Take Back the City
by LoquitorLatinae
Summary: Sequel to "The City is at War". Having finally put his criminal and military life behind him, Squall is ready to begin a new life with his brother Sora, and maybe even Cloud. But there are those who have other plans for Leon, Riku, and Zexion. AU.
1. Chapter 1

What's this? A sequel? OMG, what am I doing, I have no plot lined up! Oh well…we'll see what happens. ;)

For all of you who stumble upon this story, this is a sequel to "The City is at War", which can be accessed via my author's profile page. I would strongly advise reading it before you embark on this story (trust me, it will make a lot more sense that way). This story was born from the many pleas for a continuation of TCiaW (it looks way weird abbreviated…), so, here you go! This story is probably going to be more about all of the fun things that I kept from the first story because they didn't quite make sense, though I'll try to keep a firm grasp of (their) reality in the plot as well.

O

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Chapter 1

* * *

The sun was shining brightly overhead, causing sweat to drip down Squall's back and plastering the white t-shirt he was wearing to his skin. There was a soft wind blowing but in his opinion it wasn't blowing nearly hard enough to take some of the edge off of the heat. It was the middle of summer, Sora was off from school for break, and here he was, lifting huge boxes full of metal scrap onto shelves because Cid "couldn't reach the god-damned wrenches with those heaps of crap blockin' his way".

Two years had passed since he had returned from service and he was still, remarkably, working for Cid in his junk, er, pawn shop. Actually, there was nothing remarkable about it. Although Traverse Town's economy had picked up a bit, jobs were still scarce and he was still without any sort of higher education. In Along the way he had actually developed a fondness for the store and for the gruff blonde who ran it, not that it would stop him from griping about the heat. "Cid, turn up the air conditioning! I'm boiling alive out here!"

A shout echoed out from the front of the store, "Use the goddamn fan, Leon! I'm not turnin' up no AC when you have the back door open all the damn way! All the air'll get sucked right outside, might as well just burn money!"

Squall rolled his eyes and let out a small grunt as he heaved another wooden crate full of metal up onto a nearby workbench. He supposed the one side-benefit of all this was that he had yet to loose any muscle mass from his months with SeeD. Putting his hands on his hips, Squall surveyed the work he had left. Only about fifteen more boxes to stack up, shouldn't take too long, except the heat was starting to get to him. Not only that, but sweat was starting to collect inside his boots, causing his tracking anklet to chafe against his skin. "Could you at least bring me something to drink?"

Cid's answer was nearly immediate, "I'm helping a customer! Get your own damned drink! There's some tea in the fridge!"

Snorting, Squall pulled the bottom of his shirt up and used it to wipe off his brow. Figures that Cid would be shouting and cursing when he was waiting on a customer. Deciding that he had earned himself a break, Squall turned and walked back through the workshop to a beat-up old refrigerator pushed into the corner. Even Cid's tea sounded good to him right now, as long as it was chilled the taste didn't matter.

Grabbing a can out of the fridge, he pressed the cold aluminum to his face as he walked back towards the boxes, sitting down for only about a minute to gulp the liquid down before getting back to work. After all, the quicker he finished, the faster he would be able to get back home and relax.

His work ethic managed to carry him through another half hour of labor before his focus was broken by footsteps coming up the concrete driveway towards the open garage door. Straightening up, Squall wiped a fresh layer of sweat from his forehead before turning around, "Can I help…you…?" Squall's voice trailed off to be replaced with a small frown. "You're here early."

The newcomer smirked before stepping into the workshop, the sun catching on his blonde spikes before fading away as he walked into the shaded area, "Traffic was good. Which I suppose isn't too surprising, it being Friday afternoon. Everyone's heading towards Twilight Town for a weekend vacation at the beach; I was just lucky enough to be going the other direction."

Squall shook his head and returned to his work. He only had two more crates to stack up before he could leave. "I keep telling you, you don't have to make the trip at all. I'm not going anywhere, Cloud."

Detective Cloud Strife shrugged and took a seat at a rusty bench pushed up against one of the walls, his arms crossing over his chest as he watched Squall get back to work, "And every time I tell you that, as your parole officer, it's my job to check in on you. Besides, this has gone on for nearly two years now, you think you'd be use to it by now."

It was true. For about twenty months Cloud had been driving the two hours into Traverse Town every weekend and staying at the Leonhart's place until Sunday morning. He even came during the holidays, though his visits were typically shorter then. Squall still couldn't figure out why the detective did it though. The tracker around his ankle would tell Cloud exactly where he was and where he had been, and he wasn't showing any signs of any kind of relapse into criminal behaviors. He also knew for a fact that neither Roxas nor Axel came over to check up on Zexion or Riku as often, the two ex-cons only getting visits twice a month at most. The visits could have been for their relationship, if they had had one. What went on between the two of them was too confusing for even Squall to keep up with.

Ignoring the blonde staring at his back, Squall finished in record time and stood up to call back toward the front of the shop, "Hey Cid, I'm done back here, so I'm leaving."

The gruff man's response was once again nearly instantaneous, "That's fine. Be back early Monday, we're getting in a shipment of engine parts!"

"Sure!"

Finally glancing back at Cloud, Squall wiped off his hands on his work pants. "Ready to go?"

The man nodded and stood up as Squall walked over to him, raising an eyebrow as the ex-SeeD drew closer, "You're covered in sweat."

Squall rolled his eyes, "Yeah, it's a little warm out today. The real surprise is that you're not covered in it."

Though Cloud was wearing a short-sleeved white button-up shirt, he was also wearing a tie, belt, slacks, and dress shoes. It was the closest thing to casual Squall had seen the detective in, as sad as that was. He had to wonder if Cloud even owned a pair of shorts. Not like he was really one to talk.

"I've been locked up in my air conditioned office all day going over case files."

"Busy week?"

"Relatively. Although ever since the three of you, nothing has seemed too exciting."

Squall snorted. "I'll bet." People, especially the citizens of Twilight Town were still a bit upset over their whole criminal scandal. Every now and again someone would even call him up asking for an interview, which he always "politely" declined. The one good thing about the whole ordeal was that his, Zexion's, and Riku's photos weren't widely circulated in the media so they could go places without being assaulted by townsmen.

"Speaking of air conditioning, I can give you a ride back in my car if you want."

"Thanks, but my bike's parked around back." Cleaning himself up as best he could, Squall motioned for Cloud to follow him outside before pulling the workshop's large garage door down. Cid would lock up from the inside when he was ready to leave, so he didn't have to worry about that. "I have to go by the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner."

"Need any help?"

Squall shook his head, heading for his motorcycle parked up against the sidewall of Cid's shop, "No…Actually, get some rice going. Dinner will go faster that way…" He paused, thinking back on how strange that sounded, before shaking his head again. Cloud helping cook dinner wasn't too odd of an occurrence, since he ate with him and Sora the nights he stayed over, but it certainly wasn't how a parole officer and his parolee were supposed to act. Trying not to think on it too much, Squall mounted his bike and snapped on his helmet, giving Cloud a small nod before roaring off toward the supermarket.

By the time Squall got home Cloud's patrol car was parked in the alleyway, leaving just enough room for Squall to park his bike beside it. Grabbing the bag of groceries from his saddle bag, Squall headed inside to find Sora sitting in front of the TV with his summer homework spread out in front of him on the living room floor.

Squall scoffed as he shut the front door, "Why do you even bother to bring your homework out if you never even look away from the screen?"

His younger brother, now a seventeen-year-old young adult, glanced up and playfully stuck out his tongue. "I'm getting some of it done! Mostly during commercial breaks…"

Sora looked more or less the same as he did when he was fifteen except he had grew a few inches and had gained some muscle mass back on his frame. He was still a short, lean kid, just less so now. Squall was happy to see the change because after so many years of being sick, Sora's health had finally begun to return in full. His immune system was still somewhat weak, but the teen was down to only having to take one pill a day and was actually able to play for and keep up with some of his high school's sports teams. "That's something I guess…"

Smiling, Sora sat up, "Besides, it's not due until the end of summer, so I still have lots of time before school starts back up again." Finally noticing the bag in his older brother's hand, he made to get up off of the ground, "Do you need some help with that?"

"It's fine. Cloud's in the kitchen?"

"Yup. He got here about fifteen minutes ago."

Squall nodded, "Food will probably be on the table in twenty minutes then."

Sora nodded back and turned around to face the television again as Squall continued on into the kitchen. Sure enough, Cloud was there leaning up against the counter with some papers in his hands.

A pot of rice was already cooking on the stove, just as he had asked for. Setting the bag of groceries down beside Cloud, Squall glanced down out of the corner of his eye at the detective's paperwork, "What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, it's just a case file that I didn't have time to finish reading up on at the station."

Interest slightly piqued, Squall looked over his shoulder as he began prepping the rest of their dinner, "What's it about?"

Cloud's blue eyes darted up from the paper to his face before a small frown played across his lips, "It would be morally and legally wrong for me to tell you, being a felon yourself."

"Right. And how does that make a difference?"

"Dealing with you two years ago nearly lost me my job due to all the rules I broke. I'm not interested in causing anymore problems any time soon."

And that was the end of that conversation. It was moments like these that put up barriers in between him and Cloud that sometimes felt impenetrable. They reminded Squall that the only real reason Cloud was there was because he was his parole officer and felt like he, being a convicted criminal, would never really be anything else in Cloud's eyes. Not that he could really say that he was any better than that; whenever he looked at Cloud he felt an attraction but he was also reminded of every single bad memory about being hunted down by the cops when he was still a thief.

Dinner, as usual, was a relatively quiet affair, Sora being the only one to really initiate any kind of conversation among the three. After a few tries, he finally got Cloud to talk about what Axel and Roxas were up to and Cloud admitted that Roxas would be coming into Traverse Town that weekend to check up on Zexion.

Squall completely ignored the warning glare the blonde detective sent him as the man revealed the news. If Cloud thought that he was going to go straight to the phone and warn Zexion about Roxas's surprise visit then he was in for a disappointment. It wasn't that Squall hated Zexion or anything, he just hadn't felt the urge call him up since they stopped doing, business together. Now Riku was another matter entirely; if Squall had his way the silver-haired hitman would get thrown in jail. It's not that Squall ever really saw him around, like he sometimes saw Zexion or Demyx walking around downtown. Oh no, he wouldn't have minded that. Even though he never saw Riku, Squall knew that somehow the assassin was keeping in touch with Sora when his back was turned. He didn't know what the silver-haired man was up to, but he didn't like it.

His thoughts carried him all through dinner and before Squall knew it he was sitting down on the couch with Sora watching TV as Cloud excused himself to the back room. That's how it always was with the blonde, he would just slip away to the back bedroom to work on his paperwork or on his laptop while Squall and Sora hung out. He was pretty sure it wasn't an insult to their company or anything, it was just that the detective still took on too much work and couldn't spare the time.

Perhaps noticing that although Squall's gaze were pointed toward the television screen, his eyes didn't actually seem to be focusing on the flashing pictures, Sora poked his brother's side lightly, "Hey…Squall? You okay?"

Blinking, Squall ran his hand down his face, "Yeah, just thinking…"

A lop-sided grin spread across Sora's face but Squall could tell that the teen was troubled, "You seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it."

Sora's smile grew a little drier, "That's not fair; you get to worry about me all the time."

Squall snorted before reaching over to ruffle Sora's hair up, "Life's not always fair, Sor. Besides, nothing's wrong."

His little brother squawked a bit as his hair was mussed, patting down some of the wayward spikes with a pout as Squall pulled his hand away, "Fine. But if something's going on, I can help you know. I'm not a little kid anymore."

Satisfied, Squall leaned back against the cushions as he gave the seventeen year old a small smile, "I know…" His voice drifted off as he glanced down at the digital clock on the DVD player. 11:23pm. Was it already that late?

Following his gaze, Sora grinned up at him, "Tired?" When Squall only gave a short affirmative grunt, Sora grabbed the remote and turned the power to the TV off. Apparently neither of them had really been watching whatever it was that had been on. "You should be, you got up at like five this morning!" Seeing Sora begin to gather up his school stuff, Squall slowly stood up, "Are you going to sleep in tomorrow?"

"If I can. At least until eight."

Straightening up with his arms full of his summer homework, Sora grinned again, "Psh, that's not sleeping in! Come on, it's Saturday! It's not like we have anything better to do!"

"I'll need to get up to make breakfast—"

Sora cut him off as they both began to walk back down the hall towards their respective rooms, "I can scramble some eggs or something myself. You deserve a little break every once and a while. I don't want to see you out of that room until at least nine o'clock!"

Smirking down at the teen as Sora stopped at his own bedroom door, Squall gave a sloppy mock salute, "Yes, sir. I just don't want to hear any whining coming from you tomorrow about being hungry."

"You won't! Goodnight!"

"'Night, Sor."

Squall watched his brother slip into his room, shutting the door lightly behind him, before the older Leonhart turned and walked towards the backroom. After he had gotten back from his second tour, or the second half of his first tour, with SeeD, he had kept using his old room until a few months afterwards when he was finally able to come to terms with the fact that, as the new head of the house, he should really be using the master bedroom. It helped that Cloud had been using the room when he came over on the weekends to watch Sora…because of that, it had been a little easier for him and Sora both to redecorate their parents' old bedroom in order to turn it into a space for Squall. They had converted Squall's childhood bedroom into a guest bedroom and Cloud really should have started to sleep in there when he came over on the weekends but somehow he just never moved out of the master bedroom. It actually worked out well enough for Squall because, no matter whatever else was going on between them, he never minded sharing a bed with the blonde detective.

The door to the master bedroom was closed but Squall silently let himself inside, slowly closing the door as he let his eyes adjust to the darkened room. It looked like Cloud had already gone to sleep; he could just make out a messy head of blonde hair resting on one of the pillows. Carefully moving over to his dresser, he made short work of changing into a pair of sleeping pants then slipped over to the bed.

As the mattress dipped under his weight, a soft murmur escaped the detective. Waiting a moment to see if Cloud had woken up, Squall finally settled in only once he was sure that the detective was still asleep. Reaching out across the few inches separating them, Squall ran his fingers lightly through the other man's hair and pushed a few unruly blonde strands out of his face. He had been hoping on getting to bed before Cloud fell asleep so they could, well, so they could have sex, but it looked like the other had overworked himself again.

Squall pulled his hand back, a small sigh slipping past his lips, and rolled over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, a good day's hard work and the warmth of his bed mate slowly luring him into sleep.

_He felt heavy._

_There was a bright light shining down on him, that and a whirlwind of sand blinding him through a blood spattered visor. Squall could smell the sweat dripping down his face, his ears ringing with incomprehensible words and the sounds of gunfire._

_He was running, running forward, where to didn't really matter. Every now and then he'd recognize something; a collapsed building, a small rock wall, the chipped plaster on the corner of a house...Then, suddenly he knew exactly where he was. His view had opened up to reveal an opened courtyard. It was a landscape he had seen more than a thousand times running through his mind. _

_The world had gone silent except for the sound of his own panting breath echoing inside his helmet. He couldn't see them, but he could feel enemy combatants staring down at him from every direction, waiting for a single misstep to gun him down. Even so, his attention was captured instead by a lone figure running towards him._

_He couldn't see the man's face but he could see blood running down the other's clothes as he stumbled forward, the front of the man's SeeD uniform blackened and charred. Squall was sucking air into his lungs in huge gulps now, his throat having constricted in horror, and picked up his pace, running with everything he had, his muscles pushed to the limit. Maybe this time he would be able to reach him. Maybe this time…this time…_

_The silence seemed to stretch on for an entire lifespan as Squall reached out his hand towards the wounded man; he was only a foot away, their fingertips almost touching…please, for god's sake, this time let him just—_

_Suddenly, the sand under his foot collapsed and a scream ripped from his mouth as the entire world seemed to explode, everything, the man, the sand, the buildings, his body, everything was consumed in flame as he was blown off of his feet. Every nerve was on fire as he began to fly head over heels—_

"…_Leon!" Squall let out a shuddering gasp as a voice pierced through the hellscape._

"_Leon!"_

"Leon!"

Squall felt a sharp sting on his cheek and gasped again, his breath coming in ragged pants as he felt another sharp sting slap the other side of his face, his eyes focusing just in time to see Cloud retracting his hand. The blonde was leaning over him, his brows furrowed in concern, "Leon, are you awake?"

"…Cloud? What…?" Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Squall gripped his chest, his breathing calming as he realized where he was. With Cloud, in his bed, in his house, in Traverse Town. Eyes closing shut again, he let himself fall back down onto the mattress, "Ugh…"

Some of he worry faded from Cloud's face, "Another nightmare?"

"Yeah."

The blonde sighed and leaned down to rest his forehead on Squall's shoulder, "Ha…you scared the crap out of me. You'd think I would've been used to it by now."

Squall frowned, slipping a hand around Cloud's waist, "It doesn't happen that often…but, sorry." Occasionally, more frequently than Squall would probably like to admit to, he was still violently woken up by strange hybrids between nightmares and memories of his time with SeeD. After he had gotten back from duty, he had attended mandatory—you know you're in a bad line of work when it's mandatory—therapy sessions with a certified SeeD psychologist in town for six months. He hadn't thought it was necessary but maybe it had helped? If it had, Squall hated to think how bad it would have been otherwise.

He was brought out of his thoughts as Cloud let out a small grunt before placing a short kiss on Squall's shoulder. The action caused the remnant fear linger in Squall's mind to slip away and his hand slid up, his fingers dancing lightly across Cloud's pale back. "…What time is it?"

"Well if you'd bother to turn your head and look at your alarm clock, you'd see it's about seven in the morning."

"Seven? Hmm…Sora ordered me to stay in my room until nine."

Cloud chuckled, "Did he? That was optimistic of him. I guess you have two hours to get a bit more sleep."

Squall smiled slyly, "How about spending two hours to do something else?"

A small noise of surprise burst passed the detective's lips as Squall flipped them over so the blonde's back was pressed up against the mattress. Hovering above him, Squall intertwined their fingers, pinning their hands to the bed on either side of Cloud's head. Getting over his shock, Cloud rolled his eyes and blew a strand of Squall's hair out of his face, "What, I'm stuck in here with you too?"

Leaning down, Squall pressed a kiss against Cloud's neck, "It won't be nearly as exciting if you leave…"

Feeling the detective hesitate then slowly tilt his head to allow Squall better access, he knew he had won. "Well…I did pass out early last night—" Cloud's voice hitched into a moan as Squall moved his head up to connect their lips, the kiss quickly becoming more demanding.

It was times like this that really confused Squall. Parolees shouldn't be making out with their parole officers and yet, here he was, making out and planning to go further with a Twilight Town Police Detective. His only consolation over the whole matter was Cloud was just as guilty of creating the situation as he was. Outside of the bedroom he would hesitate to even call them friends but inside they were more like lovers than sex friends…Then again, now really wasn't a good time to be questioning things.

Just as Cloud had just gotten his arms wrapped around Squall's neck and the ex-soldier reached down to take care of their sleeping pants, a piercing ring cut through the mood. Groaning, Squall collapsed on top of the blonde as Cloud swore and snatched his cell phone off of Squall's nightstand. Feeling more than hearing Cloud's annoyed tisk, Squall glanced up, "Who's calling?"

"Axel."

"Don't answer it."

"I would love to, but it might be something about work—hn," Cloud bit back a moan as Squall nipped at the blonde's jaw, "h-hold on, Leon."

Squall growled but backed off and Cloud flipped his cell phone open, "You better make this fast, Ax."

From where he was laying, Squall could hear Axel on the other end of the line, the redhead sounding the same as ever, "_What, is this a bad time_?"

"You could say that. Why did you call?"

Axel laughed, "_Alright, I'll get right to it. I'm not even going to ask what you're up to on Saturday morning. Do you have Riku's current home address_?"

Squall muffled a small laugh in Cloud's shoulder as the blonde scowled into the phone, "Why would I know that? Isn't that something we have on file?"

"_We do, but last time I went to find him, no one was there and it looked like the house had been abandoned for a few months. All the notices I try to send just get sent back to me, so it's kind of important that I figure this out, what with all the legal paperwork and crap that we have to deal with. That guy's been nothing been a pain the ass to try to keep an eye on._"

"Yeah, I can believe it."

"_Could you ask Leon if he knows anything about it? The guy might have a better idea about where Riku can be reached._"

"Hang on a minute, I'll ask."

Having overheard the conversation, Squall had a response ready as soon as Cloud covered up the receiver. "I have no idea where Riku's staying. We don't really talk."

Cloud sighed, "That's what I figured." Pulling his hand off of the receiver, he continued his conversation with Axel, "Leon's got nothing. You might want to call Roxas up; he said that he'd be checking up on Zexion today, so he might be able to get some information for you."

Axel heaved a frustrated sigh, "_Alright, I'll try it, but could you ask around again? I'm asking because Riku's tracking anklet says he goes over to the Leonhart house like two times a week, so I figured someone there would know what his address is now._"

Stiffening up, Squall's eyes narrowed. Riku was coming over twice a week? When? When Squall was at work? Perhaps sensing his building rage, Cloud ran a soothing hand down Squall's back, "I don't think I've got any leads for you. You'll just have to use your detective skills and figure it out yourself."

"_Ugh, fine. I'll give Roxy a call. Enjoy your weekend~!_"

Cloud's nose wrinkled at Axel's sing-song tune and flipped the phone shut. Noticing that Squall was still frowning, Cloud set the phone back down on the table before yanking Squall down for another kiss. Grunting, Squall accepted the kiss but when they separated was still glowering, prompting Cloud to speak, "You didn't know about Riku coming over?"

"No."

Managing to read more in his scowl than most were able to, Cloud frowned, "Are you worried about Sora?"

Sighing, knowing that Cloud pretty much already knew what he was thinking, Squall just nodded, "Yeah…I don't, like the idea of Riku coming over when Sora's home alone."

"He seems to be doing fine."

Squall knew that Cloud was right; Sora hadn't mentioned anything and his little brother would have surely brought it up if Riku had been bothering him. It's not like Sora had changed or was behaving suspiciously either, so it shouldn't have been a problem. But that didn't mean that he liked the situation any better.

His thoughts were interrupted by Cloud's voice, "Hey, you can ask Sora about it later. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, you're not allowed to leave this room until nine. So…how about finishing what you started?"

"Hm? The mood isn't ruined?"

Cloud's smirk managed to pull a small, sly smile from Squall's own lips as his anger slowly subsided. "Not completely, no."

* * *

Roxas frowned as the cell phone in his pocket vibrated just as he shifted his car into park. He knew that ringtone. Yanking it out, Roxas stared up at a quiet apartment building. "Hey, Ax."

"_Hey. How was the drive, Roxy-baby_?"

"Don't call me that. The drive was fine. Anyway, what's up? I just made it to Zexion's place so I want to get in there fast to see if he's up to anything. If he notices that I'm here, I'm sure he'll be able to put anything he doesn't want me to see away."

"_What, you too, Roxy? Everyone's telling me to talk fast today…Fine. When you go into check up on Zexion, can you ask him if he know where Riku's staying? Or at least a permanent address? I need to send him some shit through the mail, so I need a real address. Leon doesn't know anything and I would call Zexion myself but I figure he'd be less able to dodge the question if someone asked in person_."

Roxas sighed as he stepped out of his car, his over-shirt nearly getting caught in the door as he slammed it shut. He was in plain clothes today, mostly because he had been too lazy to iron his uniform last night but also because he didn't want to stick out too much. And this was just what he needed, one more thing to have to try to pry out of Zexion. "Sure, I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do."

"_Thanks, doll. Hey, are you going to get back into town tonight_?"

Pulling his phone away from his ear to check the time as he started up the stairs to Zexion and Demyx's apartment, Roxas nodded into his cell. It was only ten in the morning and he had a few things to take care of, but if he made this quick he could be back into Twilight Town by five, "I should get back in time for dinner, why, you have plans?"

"_How about I stop by your place with some food and a movie tonight? Neither of us are getting a day off this weekend, the break'll be good for us._"

"Sure, that sounds great. See you then."

"_Awesome. Stay safe, alright?_"

"I'll be fine, Ax." One thing he hated about being a cop out on the street was how Axel, and Cloud for that matter, were so overprotective of him all the time. Hell, the entire station was. He was pretty sure he was the only new cop to be issued a pistol, three cans of mace, a baton, and two tasers. Did they really think he needed that much protection? Just because he looked young…and a bit feminine…and was short for his age…damn it, all of it just pissed him off sometimes, even if he knew that they were only looking out for him.

"_Right. See you later then. Love you._"

A smile flickered onto Roxas's face; even Axel could take the hint sometimes, "Love you too. Bye."

Ending the call, Roxas looked up to find that he had reached Zexion's floor and his spirits dropped a little. Back to work.

Sneakers scuffing up against the concrete floor, Roxas made his way down the open hallway towards the right address. The twenty-four year old let out a sigh; after all the times he had paid Zexion visits, he no longer needed to bother with looking up at the apartment numbers. He had just about reached the right door when he realized something was off.

The door to Zexion's apartment was slightly ajar.

The door was just barely open, but Roxas's blue eyes sharpened as his gaze zeroed in on the oddity. It was possible that Zexion or Demyx had just ran out for a moment, but then he hadn't seen either of them downstairs. Besides, something about the situation just felt off, and if Roxas had learned anything from his time as a rookie beat cop it was that it was important to follow his instincts.

Approaching the door more cautiously, his mouth tightened into a frown as he heard voices coming from inside. One of them was definitely Zexion's—he recognized the man's quiet voice—but the other was strange to him. Whoever he was and whatever they were talking about, he could tell that Zexion wasn't happy about it.

Wishing for once that he actually had thought to bring one of the many defensive tools the department had issued him, Roxas took a breath before straightening up and giving three sharp knocks on the front door before pushing it open. As soon as he knocked, the conversation inside the apartment had cut-off instantly and as he swung the front door open Roxas could see two surprised faces staring back at him. One, of course, was Zexion's, who hid his surprise fairly well, and the other belonging to an unfamiliar man. He looked rather unexceptional and gave off the distinctive vibe of being a low-ranking lackey, which made Roxas even more curious as to how such a man could be riling Zexion up.

Never one to miss a beat, Zexion took his sudden appearance in stride, "Ah, Roxas. I was not expecting a visit from you today."

Okay, that was a bad sign. Zexion never, ever called him "Roxas"; it was always "Officer Strife". Roxas hadn't even known that Zexion knew his first name. Deciding to play along, especially since he was ill-equipped for a serious confrontation, Roxas nodded, "Uh, ya, sorry to barge in like this, Ienzo."

Zexion nodded, Roxas seeing a pleased look flash though his eyes as the man realized that Roxas understood that something unusual was going on. Roxas had called Zexion "Ienzo" after all, an event that was even rarer than Zexion saying Roxas's first name. The third man in the room seemed uneasy, his eyes darting around in a way that set Roxas on edge. As Zexion spoke up again his voice was deadly calm as he brushed a strand of light violet hair from his visible eye, "What can I do for you?"

"Ah, I'm," Roxas shifted his gaze away from the strangers' as he thought desperately for a good excuse that didn't involve giving away that he worked for the police. Whatever was going on, it seemed like it definitely wasn't legal and he didn't want to add gasoline to the fire. "I'm, looking for Demyx?"

"It would be for the best if you came back at another time. I am afraid he is not here right now." Another oddity. It was Saturday, and Demyx and Zexion always spent Saturday at their apartment together. That's why Roxas always came to check up on Zexion on Saturday, because he knew exactly where they'd be.

Confused, Roxas almost missed Zexion's quick glance toward the back of the apartment. Figuring it was a clue, Roxas nodded after a short pause, "Alright, I'll come back later then."

As Zexion nodded a curt goodbye, Roxas slowly closed the front door again, having the distinct feeling that he was closing off a soon-to-be crime scene. Zexion had basically told him to get out, so the situation was definitely off. Not to mention Demyx had apparently run off or was hiding somewhere. As anxiety welled up inside him, Roxas pulled out his phone again and began to walk around the side of the apartment building. Zexion had given some indication that Demyx was in the back of the apartment so maybe he'd be able to gain access to the apartments through a back window or something. The walkway didn't wrap all the way around, but hopefully he'd be able to find a way over to a window once he was back there. And while he was at it, he knew he had to do something to calm his nerves so he raised his phone back up to his ear and speed-dialed his brother.

Cloud picked up on the second ring. "_Hello?_"

"It's Roxas. Listen, I'm at Zexion's and something seriously weird is going on."

He instantly had the detective's attention, "_Weird? What do you mean weird?_"

"I dunno, it's strange." Roxas tried to figure out how to explain himself without sounding paranoid as he rounded the corner of the apartment complex facing the side of the building, "There was a strange guy over, someone I haven't seen before, and he and Zexion were talking in the front room when I got there. The guy seemed really sketchy, you know? And he seemed to be ticking Zexion off. Anyway, Zexion pretty much told me to get out without letting on that I was with the police, so I left. It's just strange; I have a feeling something's going down here and I'm unarmed so I don't know what to do."

Cloud's tone was serious as he spoke next. "_Are you still there at the apartment?_"

"Yeah."

"_Alright. I'll be right over, and Leon says that he's coming too. I'll act as your backup for now and I'll call the local Traverse Town police and see if they can have a unit on stand-by, just in case something does happen. In the mean time, do you know where Demyx is? He's supposed to be there, right? It would be best to get him out of that situation._"

"Yeah, Demyx is supposed to be here but so far I haven't—wait, found him!" Having just rounded the final corner to face the back of the apartments, Roxas caught sight of Demyx. He was sitting on the rickety fire escape stairwell in his pajamas and, judging by the open window behind him, it looked like the blonde musician had climbed out of a back window of his and Zexion's apartment to sit out on the rusted metal platform.

Snapping his phone shut, Roxas hurried over to the end of the real walkway and leaned over the railing, keeping his voice quiet so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention, "Hey, Demyx!"

The older blonde started, his head whipping around before he spotted Roxas and a strained smile spread across the easy-going man's lips, "Hey Roxas…! I didn't know you were visiting today?"

Roxas returned the gesture. Despite his rather business-like relationship with Zexion, Roxas genuinely liked the ex-criminal's boyfriend. "It seems like it's a busy day for you guys."

Demyx let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Glancing to his side to make sure that no one was watching, Roxas turned his attention back to Demyx, "How about you come over here where it's a little more, you know, sturdy?"

"Ah, I would seriously love to, but I think I'm trapped out here. I already tried to get down to the ground, but this fire escape's so rusted I don't know if it will hold my weight!"

Looking at the fire escape, Roxas believed it. Then he checked the distance between where he was standing and the fire escape. It was a bit of a jump, but definitely doable. "How about you come over here then? Don't worry, I'll catch you if your jump's short."

Letting out another tense laugh, Demyx nonetheless rose to his feet, "Boy, you sure know how to make a guy feel more secure." Brushing off the boxer shorts he was wearing, the musician eyed the four feet he would have to jump warily. Roxas didn't envy him.

"Listen, if you don't feel up to it, you can wait there, but—"

Demyx shook his head and interrupted the young cop as he prepared himself for the leap, "No, I really wanna get off of this thing too. Alright…here goes nothing!"

If he hadn't been so worried that Demyx was going to hurt himself, Roxas would have laughed as Demyx jumped, his arms flailing comically. Reaching his own arms out, Roxas caught hold of the older blonde who had just managed to grab onto the outside of the walkway railing. Roxas grit his teeth and heaved the man over the waist-high barrier and sent both of them tumbling to the concrete walkway, Demyx landing roughly on top of the cop.

Pushing himself up, Demyx shook his head, "Woah, I'm not trying that one again! Sorry about falling on you!"

Roxas grimaced and rubbed the back of his head which had smacked against the floor. "It's alright…It was partly my fault…Anyway," Slowly standing up, Roxas looked at his parolee's boyfriend, "what's going on in there? Why did you climb out on the fire escape?"

Worry flashed through Demyx's eyes. "I'm not sure; I climbed out the window 'cause Ienzo told me to after there was a knock on our door. He seemed really nervous but he wouldn't tell me anything about it. When I saw you come around the corner, I was kinda hoping that you could tell me."

"Well, let's you get down to my car and you can wait there while I run back up here and see if Zexion needs any hel—"

Roxas was suddenly cut off by the ear-shattering bang of a gunshot followed by a loud scream, nearly causing Demyx to jump back into Roxas's arms. "What was that?"

"That shot sounded like it was coming from your apartment!" Turning around to face Demyx, Roxas was about to tell him to go downstairs and wait in the car when the man shoved passed him, his face panicked.

"_Ienzo_!"

"No, wait, Demyx!" Roxas began to chase after him, "Wait! We should wait until Cloud gets here! Hey, damn it, stop!" Demyx, though, didn't seem to be listening at all and sprinted around to the front of the apartment building and then down the hall to his front door, leaving Roxas chasing after from behind. Even from the start of the hall, Roxas could see that the door to the apartment was now flung wide open, Demyx having already ran nearly to the threshold. Damn, the guy could run fast when he wanted to! "Wait! We don't know what hap—"

He was cut off by a sharp cry of alarm from Demyx, the man frozen in the doorway. Catching up in less than a second, Roxas pushed him aside to reveal what he had feared: a crime scene.

There was a large splash of blood splattered across the beige carpet near the front door and a small trail of blood droplets leading towards the entrance. It looked like someone had left the apartment; they must have run because Roxas hadn't seen anyone leaving the building when he had rounded the corner. Face pale, Roxas swallowed and motioned for Demyx to stay put before taking a step inside, carefully avoiding the blood splatter. He didn't immediately see anyone, but that didn't mean that the room was empty. He really, really wished that he had his gun with him. "T-Twilight Town Police Department! Come out with your hands up!"

Hearing a small grunt from behind the couch, Roxas tip-toed over to it, his heart pounding in his chest. They had heard a gunshot and by the looks of it someone had been fairly badly injured. If Zexion had pulled the trigger, he was probably safe but if the gun had belonged to the stranger and Zexion had been shot then he could very well be putting his life on the line. "I can hear you back there! I said put your hands up!"

There was a short pause before Roxas heard a murmured voice and all his fear left him in a long sigh of relief. "…That…would be rather, bothersome at the moment…"

He recognized the voice. It was Zexion behind the couch. Still, he couldn't take any chances and kept an authoritative tone to his voice, demanding a quick response "Do you have a weapon?"

Another small grunt and Zexion pushed himself up from behind the couch, his right hand pressing a handkerchief up against his left forearm. "Not the gun you are undoubtedly looking for…"

"Where is it?"

Zexion scowled, "Unfortunately it belonged to that hooligan who tried to shoot me. He took it with him when he ran out of my home. I suppose this means that you did not see him leave…"

"No, I missed him." Turning his head back, Roxas yelled back outside, "You can come in Demyx, it's all clear. Avoid the blood when you enter though."

Immediately after Roxas gave the okay, Demyx dashed into the room, dancing nimbly around the stains on the carpet and hurrying over to Zexion's side. "Oh my god, Ienzo, are you alright? What happened to your arm?"

Roxas saw a wince flash across Zexion's face as Demyx sat down on the couch next to him. "I would have preferred for you to remain hidden until I thought it safe to come and get you. I am, however, not hurt too badly." Pulling the handkerchief away, he revealed a small patch of blood welling up from a small flesh wound, "The bullet he fired merely grazed me; the moron had terrible aim."

Blinking, Roxas turned around to look back at the blood on the floor. "Then where did all that come from?"

A dark smile slipped across Zexion's lips only for a second and he raised his left hand to reveal a sharp and very deadly looking black knife clutched in his fingers, thick crimson dripping from the blade. Demyx reeled back at the sight and Roxas's eyes widened as Zexion answered in an even tone that did not befit his deed. "Though the idiot missed me, my counter-attack was much more effective. It was a case of complete self-defense, I assure you."

"I…I…" Roxas was at a complete loss of what to say. No way did he know the correct protocol for this! Today was supposed to be an easy day, just a quick check up, that's all. This had just devolved into a whole new level of police work. Just as Roxas was about to open his mouth to try again, he heard footsteps rushing up to the front door.

All three men in the apartment turned their heads as Cloud suddenly appeared in the entryway, Leon close on his heels. The Twilight Town detective's breath faltered as he looked inside before his mouth fell open, his blue eyes wide with shock. "What the hell happened here?"

Roxas could only shake his head and turn his gaze towards Zexion. Releasing a small huff, the older man seated himself fully on the couch as Cloud and Leon warily entered the room. "The man you, Officer Strife," Zexion nodded towards Roxas, "saw before was simply an overzealous flunky delivering a message. But, it would seem that we have a problem. The Organization has returned."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey dudes! Sorry about taking a little longer to update than is traditional for me, but there was a lot going on this weekend! Me and my sister and Dad went out on Friday to my favorite city by the bay, San Francisco, and checked out WonderCon for the afternoon. Saturday through Sunday was spent with the family for Easter and when we got back home, we were greeting by a 4.8M earthquake. The original rock and roll, baby. No big deal for a Californian (and much better than the 7 point something Mexico got hit with on the same day). All finished off, of course, by the return trip to collegetown. Also, some of my spare time is being siphoned into a secret (not-really-that-exciting) project that you may or may not ever know about. We'll see how it goes…

Anyways, much, much love for everyone who reviewed the last chapter: LoneBoy7, ramen-is-my-goddess, muumuu122, becauseimthefavorite, JigokuYume, Stellar Eclipse, kingdomheartsgurl369, FuzzyLion, luxaeterna1020, MadeInHolland, YumiStar, Trempush, Shinimegami7, chibi heishi, Nekotsubasa, Piper Of Locksley, natcat5, TwlightMystery, Night's Mirth, Blah..., xHanako, Aindel S. Druida, Caithdean, Lucia-luce, xacilia, Tsubasa-Faye, ChaosGarden, SUFFERINGLOSTSOUL, nearcreature, ooXloveXoo582, SlippingSanity, Bane-Dane, Dragi, Clockwork Phoenix, DirtyZephyrAssassin, Vedensolina, Twilight Emo Wind Goddess 801, RealityInABottle, , a-chan, Little Wolf Vamp Hearts Yaoi, Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, VaseOfLove, and vampirezombieduck! Holy cow, that's a lot of names! You dudes are awesome!! XD

O

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

Running his hand over his face, Cloud let out a frustrated sigh as he stepped back into the apartment, "Alright, I just got off the phone with Traverse Town police and they said they're sending a crime scene technician over immediately."

Zexion's expression soured, "I assure you, that is not necessary—"

"Yes it is. Anyway, while we're waiting, how about you tell us all exactly what happened?"

Zexion was still sitting on the couch, Demyx at his side, but now everyone else was standing around him save for Leon. The ex-SeeD was inspecting the bullet that had embedded itself in the wall after scraping past Zexion's arm. The two police officers in the apartment stared down expectantly, just waiting for him to speak. "I have already told you what I know."

"Remind us then."

Unamused, Zexion brushed his bangs out of his face while Demyx busied himself with wrapping a bandage around his left arm, "Very well, since it does not seem like I have much choice in the matter, I will repeat myself once more. The man that invaded my apartment claimed to work for the Organization. He was apparently sent as a warning, a scare-tactic against us, if you will. I do not believe that the Organization intended for him to fire a shot at me, but the flunky perhaps desired to be a 'hero'. Unfortunately for him, and luckily for me, his plan backfired…I wonder if he has received medical attention yet? If not, he may have bled out…"

As Zexion trailed off pensively, Cloud desperately tried to shake off the consequences of the ex-con's train of thought, "For now, how about we focus on the fact that the Organization is apparently regaining strength."

Roxas frowned up at his brother, "I thought we shut them down two years ago?"

The young cop's statement pulled a scoff from Zexion's lips, "Unlikely. Though I suppose you did slow them down, they were far from dismantled."

Now Leon was drawn into the conversation, leaning over the back of the couch to catch Zexion's attention, "What do you mean? We put the Organization's bosses in prison, right?"

Raising a delicate brow at his old accomplice, Zexion leaned back as Demyx finished dressing his wound, "That is correct. And though I do not know any of the men personally I can certainly attest that prison walls are not perfect barriers. If their leader, a man named Xemnas, wished to give orders from a jail cell, such a thing would not be impossible. Particularly considering all of their resources, although they have fallen under the radar for the past few months, by no means indicates that their activity had ceased. It seems that they have decided to show their faces again."

"So, wait a minute…" Cloud tried to massage a building migraine from his temples, "Are you telling me that now that the Organization is gaining back some of their strength, they're going to start coming after you, Leon, and Riku?"

"That would apparently be the case."

"What about the rest of us? Me, Axel, Roxas, Tifa, everyone else who helped put the case against them together, are we in danger too?"

Turning back to the detective, Zexion regarded Cloud silently for a moment before shrugging, "I cannot say either way but it would not surprise me. The Organization is undoubtedly out for revenge. I knew this day would come, I was just hoping that it would have taken a little more time to happen."

Cloud watched as a scowl slipped across Leon's face, "So we're pretty much going to get a repeat of everything that happened when the Organization came after us after we broke into their tower?"

"Correct. Except this time they will be a little more upset."

"Oh good, because last time they went so easy on us."

Cloud could hear the sarcasm dripping from the SeeD's voice. He could relate. Two years ago, the Organization's retribution had nearly put them all in their graves; if the Organization was going to be even harder on them this time around, he couldn't even imagine what was going to happen. Putting his hands on his hips, Cloud released a sigh, "Alright. This is what we're going to do. Before this gets out of hand, again, Axel and I will get to work on shutting down any possible communication lines between the Organization members in prison and those on the street. Next, we'll try to convince the Dark City Police Department to cooperate in cracking down on any Organization activity in the cities."

Roxas winced, "Do you really think the DCPD will help out?"

Cloud could only shrug, "I'm not sure. Most of the precinct has supposedly been off of the Organization's payroll since the trial, so they should be more open to helping out, but we'll just have to see…"

The room fell into a moment of silence, everyone caught up in their own thoughts for a moment, until there was a quick knock on the door. Demyx jolted to his feet but Cloud waved him back down, "I'll get it, it's probably just the crime scene tech."

As the blonde walked over to the door, he heard Demyx murmur to Zexion, "Ienzo, are things really going to get as bad as before?"

Checking through the peephole, Cloud made sure that it was indeed the Traverse Town crime scene technician he had called before swinging the door open and allowing the man to get to work, the whole time waiting for Zexion's response. At the moment, Zexion knew the most about the severity of their new situation and Cloud himself was still trying to fully understand it. Everyone in the apartment, save for the technician who had begun snapping photos of the blood spatter on the carpet, was interested in his answer as well, remaining silent until Zexion finally replied, "…Yes. I think so…unless we take matters into our own hands."

Cloud felt a chill run down his spine at the man's deceivingly calm tone, just like when Zexion had revealed the blood-soaked knife in his hands. His gaze flew up to Leon's face but what he saw there didn't offer him any comfort. The soldier's stormy gray eyes had shifted to a determined cold steel, reminding Cloud once again that Leon was not a man who was willing to wait around and allow legal justice to take its course. Cloud understood how he felt, he understood how both Leon and Zexion felt, but he had to ensure that none of them got themselves into any more trouble. As his eyes shifted over to Roxas, his younger brother met his stare warily, apparently of a similar opinion.

Walking back over to the small group, Cloud straightened his shoulders and poured every ounce of authority he could into his voice causing even Leon to look up in surprise, "No one will be taking anything into their own hands. You and you," he pointed to Leon and Zexion, "are under state custody and are not about to do anything illegal to jeopardize your already shaky standing with the law. Understood?"

Zexion met his glare evenly, the man clearly unimpressed. Nevertheless, when he spoke his voice was nothing but respectful. Almost mockingly so. "Of course."

Thoroughly unsatisfied with the answer, but knowing that he wouldn't receive a better one, Cloud turned his attention back up to Leon who was still leaning on the back of the couch, "And you? Do you understand? No illegal activity. You have to let the police handle this, alright?"

An unsettling look flashed across Leon's face but before Cloud could even identify it, it had been replaced by a frown, "Do you really think you can? Last time, that didn't work out so well for you."

Cloud felt his cheeks heat up in anger. What the hell was Leon talking about? "That's because you were still criminals then! Not only that, but when Axel and I did try to help you, you just ran away! If you all had just behaved, things could have been solved a lot easier and caused a lot less trouble for everyone! If you'd let us do our jobs and actually cooperated this time around, we'll be able to handle this." Cloud raked his fingers through his messy hair as he began to calm down before heaving a sigh, "You just have to trust me."

Seemingly caught off guard by his outburst, Leon nodded once, though Cloud noted that the soldier was unable to completely meet his gaze. But right now, he didn't have time to worry over it. He had work to do. "Alright, Rox, you stay here until the tech finishes processing the scene. If you take some witness statements, I'll help you file an official report of all of this tonight. I'm going to get back to the station and start working with Axel on this whole Organization business. Leon, do you want a ride back to your place before I leave town or not?"

"I'll just walk back."

"Fine. Call me if anything comes up."

* * *

A few days had passed since that incident and while Squall had been on high alert there had been no signs of anyone from the Organization dropping by the Leonhart household. And for that he was glad, although it didn't keep him from sleeping with his pistol under his pillow. He knew though that he couldn't put his whole life on hold while he waited for this thing to blow over; there was no telling how long it could last. That meant that he still had to go to work during the day, leaving Sora at home alone. Squall didn't want to scare the teen so he had just told him not to open the door for anyone without checking who it was first, to keep the blinds to the front windows closed, and to generally just stay safe. Simple, but hopefully effective.

Squall had just finished up at work and had just straddled his motorcycle, anxious to return home, when he felt his cell phone vibrating in the pocket of his leather jacket. Rarely getting calls, Squall whipped the phone out, images flashing through his mind of Sora crouched in the bathroom, tears in his eyes, watching desperately as an armed Organization member pounded the door down. If he left now and sped, Squall could make it home in five minutes, and the bathroom door was strong so it would probably last another couples minutes, so there was a good chance that it would be able to make it in time and—

Squall looked down at his phone and felt the tension slip through his lips in a low breath of air. It wasn't a call from Sora. It was a text from Zexion.

He was apparently more paranoid than he thought.

Forcing himself to relax, Squall settled down on his bike seat and opened up the text. _Meet at HQ tonight 10pm_. Staring at the text for another minute, Squall shook his head before slipping his phone back into his pocket and pulling his helmet on. He didn't like this. It was too much of a déjà vu, taking him back to a place that he had wanted to leave behind forever. Zexion was planning something, and Squall had a sinking feeling that he was going to be involved. And he hated that there was a part of him that didn't care.

The ride home was thankfully uneventful and as he stepped into his house he found Sora lounging peacefully on the couch, stretched out with his head resting on the armrest as he played a video game. As soon as Squall opened the door, Sora's blue eyes darted up and it took Squall less than a second to realize that there was a small frown on the teen's face. "Something wrong?"

Sora blinked in surprise, as if he hadn't realized he had been making an odd expression, and quickly shook his head, "No, everything's fine!"

Squall frowned and watched his brother out of the corner of his eye as he turned to pull off his leather jacket, "Did anything happen while I was at work?"

A small frown returned to the younger brunette's face but he shook his head again, "No…it was actually really quiet around here."

Sora was trying to keep his voice normal but Squall could still detect a slight undertone of disappointment. As he hung up his jacket, he had to wonder if Sora's mood had anything to do with Riku's visits. Did that silver-haired brat come by and upset Sora? Keeping his tone nonchalant, Squall made his way into the kitchen, "Did anyone stop by today?"

He heard a soft sigh coming from the family room, "No."

Maybe Sora was upset because Riku _didn't_ stop by. As much as the idea of his brother being depressed bothered him, Squall couldn't help but be cheered up by the thought. Not only that, but apparently no one from the Organization had come to harass Sora during the day either. For Squall, the day couldn't have gone any better. It definitely made him feel more comfortable with what he was about to say; "Hey Sor, I'll be going out tonight around nine thirty."

"Huh?" Opening the pantry to scrounge around for something to make for dinner, Squall glanced over his shoulder to see that Sora had poked his head into the kitchen, "What for?"

"Just an errand."

"An errand? That late?" Sora's mouth tightened into a frown, "You're not getting back into any illegal stuff, are you?"

Setting a pot down onto the counter, Squall carefully maintained a straight face, "Why would you think that?"

"It's just, this is the kind of thing you did back then, when you were robbing places or whatever with Riku and Zexion. Besides, it's not like you to go out at night to do anything."

This sort of thing had been easier when Sora was younger and more gullible. It didn't help that Squall still didn't like lying to Sora, but, just like it was two years ago, Squall couldn't exactly just tell Sora the truth either. "I'm just going out to see a friend."

"Which friend?"

Frowning, Squall crossed his arms and finally turned around to face Sora completely, gray eyes meeting defiant blue. Sora usually wasn't this persistent and the make-shift interrogation was starting to grate on his nerves. He got enough of that in his life from Cloud. "I would have expected that you trusted me enough to care for myself. I don't think that you have the right to be questioning me about where I'm going."

A light flush spread across Sora's cheeks and the teen's grip tightened as he clenched his hands, "If I don't, who will? I'm just—" Squall watched as Sora let out another small sigh and his hands relaxed and fell to his side, "I'm just, worried about you. Because I think something weird's starting up again and I'm, nervous because no one's telling me anything. First you and Cloud running out last weekend, then you're going out at night again, and Ri—and you're starting to get tense…I don't like it."

What Squall didn't like was Sora's little word slip. He was sure the teen was about to say something about Riku but even he knew that it wasn't yet the right time to pry information out of his brother. Not when he was already riled up. "I've told you before, you don't need to worry about me."

Sora shook his head, exasperated, "I can't help it! You're my brother! I didn't realize until recently how close you came last time to dying; that's not okay! If something's going on, I want to know about it!"

Seeing tears of frustration begin to well up in Sora's eyes, Squall's face finally softened. It had been a long time since Sora had cried, probably almost two years now, and he hated to think that he had been the one to bring that back. "Sor…listen…" Heaving a sigh, Squall closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, "You're right. Some things have come up. But," Squall's eyes opened again and met Sora's evenly, "I promise I'm not about to get back into any sort of criminal career. Even Cloud knows about it, alright? The situation's being handled and, with any luck, this whole thing will blow over in a few days. So don't start worrying about me yet; if any big problem comes up, you'll know."

He felt Sora's eyes searching his face, as if looking for a crack in Squall's emotional mask, before nodding slowly, "…Alright. But you promise you'll tell me?"

"I promise."

Finally Sora seemed convinced. As he settled down, his flush of irritation slowly faded into one of embarrassment, "Okay…Sorry about, bursting out like that."

Turning back to his cooking, Squall shook his head, "It's alright. I'd rather have you tell me what's on your mind than not."

"Yeah…So, um, do you need any help with dinner?"

"Sure."

With the two of them working on preparing the meal, it went a lot faster than Squall had anticipated. The evening was also more pleasant than it could have been otherwise after their small confrontation, Sora back to smiling and joking within a few minutes of the work. The time saved also allowed Squall to take a shower and even squeeze in a quick nap, the shrill beeping of his alarm waking him at nine thirty sharp.

Pushing himself out of bed, Squall sat down on the edge of the mattress and pulled on his boots, already dressed and ready to go. Wiping a hand down his face to rid himself of any lingering signs of sleep, he stood, just barely remembering to slip his pistol under his belt at the last minute. While what he told Sora, that he didn't have any plans of rejoining the criminal career path, was true he also didn't trust that Zexion was calling him out at night for a perfectly legal get-together.

Walking past Sora's room, he saw the teen sitting at his computer surfing the internet, "I'm leaving now, Sor."

His brother glanced over and Squall saw anxiety resurface in his blue eyes, though this time he kept his worries to himself, "Alright. When are you going to be back?"

"Not sure, probably after midnight. I'll lock the door behind me and remember, if anyone comes—"

"—don't let them inside, don't talk to them, don't open the door. Got it." A dry smile spread across Squall's lips at his brother's overly-practiced recital.

"Good. I'll see you in the morning. Get to bed at a decent time."

"I will. Be careful!"

Squall nodded and gave a small wave before continuing down the hall and out towards the front of the house. Doing a quick check to make sure all the windows and doors were closed and locked, Squall grabbed his leather jacket and keys and stepped out, double-checking to make sure he had locked the front door. Only when he was certain the house was as secure as it was going to get did Squall walk over to his motorcycle.

Slipping on his helmet, Squall gunned the engine, the headlight flashing on and illuminating the cobblestone road in front of him. The night air was the perfect temperature, heat still lingering from the blazing summer sun during the day. He probably would've enjoyed the ride a lot more if he hadn't been so focused on what was going to happen when he reached his destination. He was sure that nothing too serious had happened, otherwise he would've gotten a call instead of a text, and probably from Cloud instead of Zexion. Squall knew that the blonde detective, despite being two hours away, was closely monitoring their situation and would undoubtedly overreact the second it changed. No, nothing too bad could have happened, but that left a huge range of possibilities opened for why Zexion had contacted him. Did the man have a way out of their situation? Was he planning some sort of retaliation? If it was the latter, Squall wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of it but he was definitely willing to hear the criminal mastermind out if it was the former.

Driving down into the Third District at night brought back a whole host of memories that Squall would rather have kept buried. Even though it had been two years since he had gone into this particular part of town, he probably could have driven the route to the headquarters of their old criminal activities blindfolded.

As he pulled up to the sketchy looking building, it looked like no one was there. In fact, it appeared that no one had been there for about five years and that the building should be condemned. But that was to be expected; after all, the exterior had looked exactly the same two years ago too. Parking his bike close to the entrance to discourage anyone who might be looking to steal it, Squall tugged his helmet off and dismounted. The steady weight of his handgun pressing against his hip kept his confidence high and Squall walked straight up to the heavy metal front door, pounding on it a few times before taking a step back.

Only a few seconds passed before he heard a faint rustling echoing out from the other side accompanied by the high-pitched grating of a series of locks being undone before the door finally swung open. It was Zexion and, by the way the corners of the man's lips were turned down, Squall figured that he was late. "Come in, we were waiting for you."

"I can't be that late…" Squall's voice trailed off as he noticed Zexion's choice of pronouns as the shorter man led them into the small compound. "We"…did that mean--?

"Well, look who finally decided to show up?"

Riku.

Squall's grip on his helmet tightened as he fought off the sudden desire to pull out his gun, "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here."

The silver-haired hitman sat up from where he had been lounging on the ratty old couch pushed up against one of the concrete walls, appearing more amused than intimidated by Squall's darkened scowl, "Someone's in a bad mood. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Completely forgetting about Zexion, Squall stalked forward to stand in front of the younger man, "Like hell you don't! Did you think I wouldn't find out that you've been coming to my house while I'm at work?"

Riku raised a brow, "Did Sora tell you that?"

Squall had never felt such a strong desire to punch someone in the face as he did when Riku said Sora's name, "No, Cloud did. Your tracking data says you've been coming over two to three times a week!"

"Oh, I see." Leaning back, Riku crossed his arms behind his head and shot a rakish grin towards Squall, "Alright, so what if I have?"

The urge to punch had devolved into the urge to strangle but Squall continued to force himself to keep from lashing out. He hadn't had to use this much self-discipline since he had been with SeeD. Inhaling then exhaling slowly, Squall turned his eyes back down to Riku, "If I hear about you coming into my home even once more while I'm away, I will have you arrested. Either that, or I will kill you. Stop trying to get close to my brother."

Rolling his eyes, Riku stood up, his eyes nearly even with Squall's, "We'll see. But one thing's for sure, Sora's right, you're still way too overprotective. The kid's almost an adult now, he can take care of himself."

"He's _almost_ an adult. And I wouldn't trust anyone around a psychotic killer like you."

"Look who's talking—"

"If you two are quite done, may I proceed?" Zexion's cold voice cut through their conversation, which was probably for the best since things were starting to get a little heated. Then again, Squall would have welcomed an opportunity to dole out some physical damage to the cocky brat standing next to him.

Seeing that he had effectively caught both of their attention, Zexion walked across the room to his computer and sat down, "Now, as you have both been made aware of at one point or another, the Organization had once again made their presence known. Their intentions have also been made clear."

Riku gave Squall one last look before crossing his arms and turning to face Zexion, "I'm still a little fuzzy as to why you're making such a big deal out of this. I mean, it was just one loser who wanted to be the Organization's 'hero'."

Zexion threw a glance over his shoulder before motioning for the two of them to move closer, "I would tend to agree with you. However, having a member come to my home was rather invasive for their usual sort of warning, and so I am taking them a bit more seriously."

Reaching Zexion first, Riku leaned onto the back of the chair the shorter man was sitting in, "Yeah, but apparently the guy could barely even shoot a gun so the Organization couldn't have thought too highly of him. I mean, you were what? Two feet away? I know you're short and skinny and make for a smaller target than most, but still."

Squall would have laughed but he didn't really want to show Riku any sort of support so he stayed quiet, Zexion's sharp glare satisfying enough. "You can either stop being such a smart-ass or leave."

"You know I'm just kidding. Apparently two years away from the business hasn't improved your sense of humor…"

Zexion's visible eye narrowed, "And apparently they have failed to beat any maturity into you. If you want my help instead of wanting to be booted to the curb, I suggest you keep your comments to yourself."

Riku scoffed but momentarily relented, "Alright, fine. Just tell us what you called us here for."

Facing his computer again, Zexion began to pull up multiple, complex-looking programs, "I called the both of you in because I thought it would be prudent if we began to take some precautionary measures."

Squall finally spoke up, his curiosity overriding his usual taciturnity, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if the Organization is really out looking for us, it would be best if we did what we could to ensure that we were not found."

Leaning his chin on his hand, Riku stared at the screen as Zexion's fingers began to fly across the keyboard, typing at lightening speed, "Fat lot of good that's gonna do us. They apparently already know where you live. I wouldn't be surprised if they had Leon's address too."

Zexion didn't even look up from the screen, "I am sure that they do. However, the Organization does not tend to strike at its targets at their homes, with the exception of that rouge little underling who tried to put a bullet in my head."

Thinking back onto the events of two years ago, Squall realized that Zexion was right. Throughout everything, the Organization had always went after him, Zexion, and Riku either on the road, in town, or at their workplace. The only person who had ever come to his door looking for him had been Cloud. At the time he hadn't questioned it but thinking back on it, it did seem a little strange. People could be expected to be in their most vulnerable states at home; although they would have a home advantage, their guard might be lowered and you might even catch your target sleeping and completely open for attack. "Why didn't they? Come after us at home, I mean."

Riku answered before Zexion could even bother to open his mouth for a response, "There are probably a number of reasons. One is that they seem to like to take people out in public settings. Although there's more risk involved, it really gets peoples' attention and sends a message. If they killed someone in their home, there would be the possibility that the body wouldn't be discovered for a few days, or maybe even a few weeks." Squall didn't like Riku's straightforward tone; it made it appear that he had had personal experience in the subject. Which was probably true. "On the other hand, there's a strong chance that they're just cocky bastards who think it's beneath them to take someone out in their home."

Squall snorted and tossed Riku a meaningful glance, "Sounds like someone I know."

If Riku had caught the insult, it didn't show, the young man's expression remaining completely unfazed. Squall wasn't sure if that meant Riku just didn't get his intention or that Riku wasn't denying the charge. It did, however, draw a small snort of amusement from Zexion before he continued to speak, "Either way, the pattern exists and we should take advantage of it. Assuming that the Organization will not, for whatever reason, stoop to killing us in our homes, we can say that they will try to attack us while we are out in town. Now, judging on their actions last time we crossed paths with them, the Organization clearly does a lot of research into our whereabouts and they will undoubtedly act similarly this time around. I do not believe that it would be too farfetched to guess that they will use our new circumstances against us."

Squall's eyes sharpened, "What do you mean by that?"

"I am referring to these." Reaching down, Zexion pulled up his pants leg to reveal his anklet tracker before letting his dark jeans fall back again, "As long as our every move is being recorded we are putting ourselves in danger."

Quickly nodding his agreement, Riku scowled, "We might as well paint a big red target on our backs--"

Squall however, was a bit confused, his brow furrowing as he cut off the hitman, "Aren't the police the only people who have access to our tracking data? I think that the trial two years ago pretty much flushed out all of the corrupt cops."

Shaking his head, Zexion's fingers jumped back to the keyboard, "Firstly, I very much doubt that all of the corruption has been removed from the justice system. Secondly, you are incorrect. Our data is much easier to access than you are apparently aware. Observe."

With a click of the mouse, a new window popped up and numbers began to stream across the screen.

Squall leaned in, a foreboding feeling settling in his stomach, "What's that?"

"Our tracking data. It took me approximately five minutes just now to hack into the government's 'secure' computer system and I can assure you that the Organization has employees as, or nearly as, competent as myself. With this data, the Organization will be able to see every single place we go. It would not be as much of a problem except for it is human nature to operate within set patterns and habits; knowing where we have gone, they will be able to predict where we will be and will be able to lie in wait."

There was some logic in that argument that Squall found impossible to deny. "So are you saying that you're going to delete all of the data?"

"Nonsense, that would be much too obvious and would attract attention from our 'friends' in law enforcement. Instead, I am proposing that we simply…selectively remove times and locations that will minimize the Organization's ability to uncover any patterns in our day to day activities."

Squall saw Riku's bright teal eyes light up in excitement, "Seriously, you can do that?"

The question almost seemed to insult Zexion. "Of course. I have yet to find a security system that I could not crack. I attempted to work through this one last night and was able to alter some of my data within ten minutes—"

The exhilaration in Riku's eyes only intensified, "Hey, do me next! I have some things on there that would probably be good to get off of there."

Zexion released a heavy sigh, "Honestly, I do not know why I put up with you…But if it will get you off of my back, I will doctor your tracker data next. Leon, I assume that you have the decency of a mature adult and will be able to wait?"

Rolling his eyes, Squall nodded, "Yeah, I think I can manage to contain myself…" allowing his voice to trail off, Squall turned back to glare at Riku, "And what are you so excited about to get rid of on your tracker?"

"Oh, you know, this and that. A few things that I'd rather not have the Organization, or Axel, to be poking around in."

The two other men in the room appeared equally unimpressed. As he finished pulling up Riku's information, Zexion glanced back, "Alright, point out what you want altered before I change my mind."

Riku reached around Zexion's head to point at the monitor, jabbing at a few rows of data, "This, this, and this should probably be taken off. And, ah, these two would be best to drop."

Squall's eyes narrowed further as Zexion got to work, "Those wouldn't have anything to do with something illegal, would they?"

"No, I don't want Axel to see them because I don't want him know which clothing store I go to. What do you think, Leon?"

Man, did Riku know how to push his buttons, "I'm thinking that if I call Axel right now and tell him to check your tracker info before Zexion alters it, there's a chance that you'd be arrested and out of my hair."

Riku's brows lowered for a second before his smug grin returned, "Unfortunately for you, all that would result from that would be me getting a small fine and you getting a bullet in the back of your head."

"I'm pretty sure you've threatened me with that before. And yet here I am."

"You want me to change that?"

Zexion's fingers missed a key and he finally snapped, "Both of you, stop that! You are ruining my concentration…"

Snorting, Riku crossed his arms, "Just finish up. I thought you said this would only take you ten minutes to do this before?"

"I did and it did. Although it has only been three minutes since I started, it is likely going to take me longer this time around with you hovering over me and yelling in my ear. The two of you need to find a way to entertain yourselves while I am working." As Squall and Riku shared a glare, Zexion seemed to sense the tension rising without even having to turn around, "Something that does not involve you two beating the crap out of each other. I would rather not have to remove any more blood from any more carpet this week."

* * *

Stifling a yawn behind his left hand, Roxas kept a firm grip on the steering wheel with his right. As his patrol car glided to a halt at a stoplight, he took a moment to stretch out his limbs before turning his eyes back to the road. He was just about to finish up a six hour shift of patrolling the streets and so far things had been pretty boring, which was to be expected in Twilight Town. Hardly anything major ever happened and the most exciting news that had been broadcasted over his police scanner was that a trolley had broken down on Market Street and was holding up traffic…Then again, no news was good news in this line of business, so Roxas supposed he should be more thankful for the quiet shift. Especially after that small burst of excitement last weekend. That had been a huge pain in the ass…

Suddenly there was a quick movement to his left and his blue eyes shifted down from the red street light glaring down at him just in time to catch sight of a car rocketing through the intersection. Not only was it going way faster than the speed limit but the windows were way too heavily tinted to be legal. Show time.

Roxas grinned as he flipped on his siren and stepped on the gas as he took a sharp right turn. Finally, some action. Sure it was just a traffic stop, but whatever. That was about the best you were going to get in Twilight Town these days.

The driver he was after seemed to hesitate and almost looked like he was going to make a run for it before he cautiously put on his brakes and drifted over to the curb. Pulling up right behind the other car, Roxas snatched up his radio and called the event in as protocol demanded, "This is Officer Strife, car thirty-six, calling in an eleven-ninety-five, stopping a speeding black sedan with heavily tinted windows." After reading off the license plate number and receiving confirmation from dispatch, Roxas stepped out of his car.

Luckily, Roxas had pulled the car over on the side of a city road so there was enough room on the shoulder for Roxas to approach from the driver's side without worrying about being hit by a passing car. Straightening his uniform, Roxas knocked on the driver's window, narrowing his eyes as the glare from the late sunset reflected off of the glass and right into his eyes, "Twilight Town PD. Roll down your window please."

After a second the driver obeyed. Roxas's eyes were still recovering from the bright light but he tried to act normal while making a mental note to invest in a pair of sunglasses. "Please turn off your car, sir." As the man did so, Roxas blinked his eyes a couple times to try and clear them, "Do you know why I'm stopping you today?"

"N-no officer."

Roxas frowned at the stutter. He knew some people got nervous around cops but, as far as cops went, he was probably the least intimidating of the bunch. The fact that the driver was already so worked up put him on guard. "Relax, it's just a traffic stop. I pulled you over today because you sped through that stoplight at least twenty miles per hour over the speed limit. Also, these windows are far too tinted to be legal, so you're going to have to get the—"

His voice caught in his throat as he finally got a good look at the guy, his eyes having finally undialated. The man in the car had his shirt off, revealing a huge cut slicing down from his right shoulder to the bottom of the left side of his ribcage. It had been messily bandaged and Roxas could tell that it had been bleeding recently. "Holy shit! Sir, you really need to get to the hospital! How long ago did you get it?" Yanking the driver's door open to get a better look, Roxas winced at the raw gash cutting through the other's skin.

The man cringed and as his expression grew even more anxious, a faint feeling of recognition began to rouse in the back of Roxas's mind. He had seen this guy before but he couldn't quite place him. "It, happened about…four days ago."

"Four day—Okay, sir, I'm calling you an ambulance. This has been bleeding recently and if you got it four days ago and it still looks fresh, you need some serious medical attention."

As Roxas reached for his radio the man's chin jerked up, his face panicked, "No, I don't need an ambulance! I—"

A small gasp burst through Roxas's lips as he finally placed the man, forgetting all about calling for an ambulance. It was that Organization thug, the one who had been at Zexion's apartment last weekend!

The young cop's shocked expression must have triggered something in the criminal's memory too because the man, without even closing the car door first, suddenly lunged for the ignition key. Snapping into action, Roxas dove on top of him to try and snatch the keys first, "I don't think so, get your hands away from there! You're under arrest for attempted murder!" He couldn't let the man drive away!

The two wrestled for a few moments, Roxas gritting his teeth as the other man began to push him out of the car. Even though he was wounded, he was pretty strong. Maybe he was just desperate. Snatching for the car keys, Roxas's fingers grazed over the cool metal just before the criminal grabbed his wrist and shoved it away. Damn it, if he only had a free hand he would have sprayed mace right into the bastard's eyes, but as it was it was all he could do to just keep grabbing for the key.

The criminal seemed to have had enough though and with one final heave, he managed to shove Roxas back enough to give himself enough time to get his fingers on the ignition key. Roxas's eyes widened as the car's engine revved to life, fear swelling up inside of him as the man stomped the gas pedal all the way down to the car floor, "Hey, wait! Stop!" He was still halfway in the car! If he didn't get out now—

The decision was taken away from him as the pavement suddenly flew out from under his feet, the sedan's tires shrieking against the road as the car hurdled back towards the street. Slipping out as the car picked up speed, a sharp shout tore from Roxas's throat as his left arm got caught in the dangling seat belt. Unable to regain his footing, the rough asphalt tore at his back and legs as he was dragged along, struggling all the while to break free.

Hearing the sound of fabric ripping, Roxas bit back a scream as the seat belt tore a bit, the screams finally bursting out as he felt fabric and skin getting scraped away on the pavement. He just barely had the presence of mind to grab at his belt for the small knife he carried with him and desperately swung the blade up to hack at the seat belt. He nicked the skin on his trapped hand multiple times but it was worth it as the seat belt tore all the way and Roxas tumbled free, rolling off to the side just in time to avoid being run over by the back tires as the car sped away.

Everything hurt. He couldn't even move his left arm. It must have been broken. Or dislocated. Both probably. Tears stung his eyes and his breaths started to come quick and shallow as the full extent of the pain finally hit him. And he was still in the middle of the road. Shit, shit, shit. He couldn't even push himself up to his feet.

Despite ever fiber of his being screaming at him to just stop and lay down, Roxas forced himself up onto his hands, well, onto one hand, and his knees and pulled himself more than crawled over to the shoulder. He could see the lights of his patrol car flashing in the distance. But he was done; no way could he make it that far.

Rolling over onto his back, Roxas reached up with a shaking hand and grabbed his radio, his voice pinched and raw from screaming, "Ah—Officer Strife to dispatch. Off-officer down…I—ah, shit—I need im-immediate assistance…"

OoOoOo

"—_My humblest apologies, Detective Strife, but as of right now I'm afraid I have very little to offer you as far as information goes._"

Cloud sighed into the receiver and leaned back in his desk chair. For the past few days he and his partner had been holed up in their office at the Twilight Town Police Station, searching for leads about the blossoming case with the Organization coming back to power. Cloud wanted to work fast before Leon and their other parolees found the need to "help" the investigation. Shooting Axel an annoyed look from across the room, Cloud put down his notebook and pen, "Fine. But keep your eyes open for any sign that the Organization is starting up again, alright Luxord? You out of anyone should know what they've been up to."

"_I understand what you are implying, but I am afraid I'm not in that sort of business anymore. After our last case together, it has behooved me to remain on the straight and narrow, as it were. Seems like a shame now though. Either way, I do love a good game and if the Organization wants to begin a new one then I'm in. I will send any clues I dig up your way. If I have a break in my real cases, that is._"

Cloud would have been insulted, but Luxord was probably actually loaded down with cases of his own, so he couldn't really ask for anything more. "Thanks. Call me if you find anything."

"_Of course. Give my regards to the redhead._"

Leaning forward, Cloud hung up the phone and turned his head, "Luxord says 'hi'."

Axel snorted, "Joy. Did he say anything about helping out?"

"It sounds like he'll do what he can, if he's in the right mood. Same as usual. He'll call back if he gets anything for us."

Opening his mouth, Axel was just about to unleash an undoubtedly snide remark when he was interrupted by a shrill ring from Cloud's desk phone. Cloud raised a brow, "Well that was quick." Swiveling his chair back to face his desk, Cloud snatched the phone back up, "Detective Strife speaking."

"_Detective Strife, this is Mary from dispatch. It's about Officer Strife…_"

Cloud felt the color instantly drain from his face. This couldn't be good. "Roxas? What happened?"

Seeing his suddenly horrified expression, Axel was instantly at his side and had hit the speaker-phone button, the conversation beginning to echo around the small room.

"_Roxas was involved in an altercation during a traffic stop and has been taken to the Twilight Town General Hospital ER for treatment. His condition is critical but stable from what I could gather. A report hasn't been filed yet, but I knew he was your brother and wanted to let you know as soon as possible._"

Dread swept through Cloud's body as he watched Axel stiffen up. Meeting the redhead's green eyes, Cloud nodded and he took a breath to try and regain the ability to speak, "Thank you." Slamming the phone down in its cradle, Cloud turned his head back up only to find that Axel was way ahead of him and tugging on his jacket. Quickly following suit, Cloud scrambled to get his things together, barely remembering to grab his car keys before he and Axel sprinted out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

So, I was all set up to get this chapter up in a more timely fashion and then apparently my hardrive decided that it had lived a long and fruitful enough life and decided to die despite my pleads for it to reconsider. So…yes. Hopefully I will be able to get everything back up and running soon. I just wanted to let you know, in case the next chapter comes a little more slowly as well, that I am definitely not putting this story on pause (because I'm stubborn) but that it may take more time than usual for me to update. Nothing ridiculous, just longer than usual (Maybe like a week and a half-two weeks, I dunno).

Anywho, thanks bunches to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter: nearcreature, chibi heishi, luxaeterna1020, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, DirtyZephyrAssassin, xHanako, Aindel S. Druida, Lucia-luce, Shinimegami7, Stellar Eclipse, Arid Tundra, Becca86, YumiStar, Clockwork Phoenix, Bane-Dane, Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, Blah..., Nekotsubasa, Twilight Emo Wind Goddess 801, Night's Mirth, ooXloveXoo582, , crazy rainbow star, vampirezombieduck, ChaosGarden, Little Wolf Vamp Hearts Yaoi, MeykoLove, xacilia, RealityInABottle, RkM4U, Dragi, ramen-is-my-goddess, and Tsubasa-Faye! You guys keep me going! :)

O

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Bursting into Twilight Town General Hospital, Cloud and Axel ran right passed the front desk and, with a quick flash of their badges to show that they weren't some random crazies off of the street, headed back toward the patients' rooms. On their short drive over, they had gotten more word from dispatch that Roxas had been moved from the ER to a room once the doctors determined that he was not in any immediate danger of dying. The news didn't do too much to soothe Cloud's worries though. His heart felt like it was clenched up tight in his throat, and the fact that he felt like he could barely breathe had little to do with running as he sprinted down the hall.

Axel was right by his side and, if Cloud had had the capacity at the moment to worry about anything other than his little brother, he might have realized that there was just as much fear in the redhead's sharp green eyes as there was in his own.

Finding the right room, the two detectives nearly tumbled inside, narrowly missing mowing over a nurse who had just been leaving. Ignoring her flustered protests, Cloud shouldered his way further inside the room, his guts constricting further as his eyes landed on the hospital bed.

Roxas was lying in it, looking drowsy as if he had just woken up from a twelve hour nap. He was dressed in a hospital gown and had thin baby-blue sheets pulled up to his waist, but Cloud could still tell that his brother was covered in road-rash, the flesh on his bare arms patched with red where skin had been scraped away by pavement. His left arm was in a sling, a brace peeking out from underneath the fabric to show that the limb had either been sprained or broken. Remarkably, Roxas's face didn't seem like it had been damaged much save for a small scrape on the pale flesh of his right cheek. It told Cloud that during whatever had happened Roxas had apparently been conscious enough to keep his head up off the ground.

That thought, for whatever reason, calmed Cloud, along with the fact that Roxas was still alive. He had seen and heard of cops who had gotten attacked during casual traffic stops and Cloud had been fearing the worst. Not that this wasn't bad, but it was no bullet to the head or crushed body from being hit by a car. No, Roxas would be alright.

Leaving a shocked and horrified Axel at the door, Cloud went straight up to Roxas's bedside and carefully wrapped his fingers over the younger cop's right hand as it lay on top of the covers at his side, "Hey Rox…You awake?"

Cloud soothed his expression into a small, calming smile as he watched Roxas's face scrunch up before the younger's blue eyes slowly flickered open. "Cloud…? Mm…where am I?"

Nodding, Cloud ran his free hand through Roxas's tangled spikes and found the golden strands to be slightly damp. The hospital staff had probably washed some blood out of it at the ER, "The hospital. We came as soon as we heard."

"…We…?"

As the soft question filled the room, Axel finally stepped forward. It was clear that the older man was trying to collect himself. Despite his efforts, his trembling half-smile still gave away his feelings. "Roxas…I—" The detective's voice seemed to catch in his throat and instead of trying again, Axel simply walked around to Roxas's other side and leaned over to place an emotion-laden kiss on Roxas's forehead.

Cloud allowed the gesture and turned his head away for a moment to allow them a second of privacy as Axel released a long, shaky breath. After two years, he had gotten used to the relationship between his partner and his little brother and his protective tendencies had faded a little. Watching them, it was clear that they both cared for each other deeply. As a matter of fact, lately he'd been sympathizing with Axel more than worrying about Roxas. The smaller blonde had Axel so wrapped around his little finger that Cloud now worried more about how their often rocky affair affected Axel more than Roxas.

Now though the two just seemed simply and genuinely happy to see the other and Cloud almost felt bad about breaking the mood by speaking. But he had some questions that he wanted answered. "Roxas, what happened?" Roxas's slightly unfocused gaze reconnected with his and Cloud continued, "We didn't get much information from dispatch. Just that you'd been injured at a traffic stop." A short moment passed in silence, "Look, I understand if you're too tired right now to talk. But," Cloud glanced up at Axel who nodded back in encouragement, "we need to know what happened."

Another short moment passed before Roxas shook his head, "No, I…sorry, it's just hard to focus. I can talk…"

Reaching back, Axel grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and dragged it over so that he could sit down, although one hand never moved from Roxas's shoulder, "It's alright. Take your time. You've probably got a lot of painkillers in your system right now."

Roxas nodded in confirmation before continuing, his eyes fluttering back up to Cloud's face, "I, was just out, patrolling…at an intersection. I was waiting for the light to turn when this, guy, comes racing through…" Roxas's brow furrowed in thought, "His windows were tinted heavily too…So I threw my lights on and followed. I think…he was going to run but then he pulled over. I called it in to dispatch…"

Cloud interrupted here, not wanting to break Roxas's train of thought but needing more information, "Did you list the license number?"

"…Yeah…I called it in and listed the license number, like protocol. Then…I got out and went to talk to the guy. I didn't, notice at first because there was…this light, from the sun, but the guy had this huge…" Roxas's voice trailed off as he apparently struggled for a descriptive enough noun with his drugged up brain, "…slice in his chest. I opened the door to, help, I dunno…but then I finally recognized the guy." At this, Roxas's blue eyes grew wide and he looked back up at Cloud, "It was the guy from Zexion's apartment! He, must've recognized me too or something because he reached for the keys. I tried to stop him but he got the car going and I got trapped by the seatbelt and…well…"

Roxas didn't need to finish, Cloud could interpret what happened next pretty well. The first thought after listening to Roxas was that he had to get the Chief to install a dashboard camera on Roxas's patrol car. The next thought was that he had to get the sorry son of a bitch who had done this to his brother. Axel seemed to be of a similar mindset if the barely-smothered fury flashing across his face meant anything.

Picking up on the rage gathering in the room, Roxas gave both of them a weak smile, "…Get that guy for me, alright?"

The request caused a twisted smirk to stretch across Axel's face before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Roxas's forehead again, "Don't worry, Roxy, we'll get him. You just, try to relax."

Sensing that Roxas was about to protest, Cloud crossed his arms, "Axel's right, you need to rest up. After all, the more you rest, the faster you'll heal."

Roxas let out a huff before grudgingly nodding his head. Even when he was injured and drugged, he still managed to show some attitude. Amazing.

His grumpiness seemed to amuse Axel though, "Don't worry babe, you'll be out of here in no time. I'll even drop by with dinner tomorrow so you don't have to eat whatever crap they serve here, alright? If you're a good boy, maybe I'll even bring along a bit of sea salt ice cream."

Immediately brightening up, Roxas nodded again, "Fine…But you two have to promise to keep me updated on everything."

"Of course. When we find the guy, do you think that you'd be able to identify him for us?" Cloud had purposefully said "when", not "if". Not catching this guy was not an option, and he was sure every law enforcement officer in the country would be on his side. The police protected their own, for better or worse, and anyone who put an officer in the hospital would eventually be taken down.

"Yeah…I got a pretty good look at him…"

"Good." Noting the way Roxas's voice had trailed off, Cloud gave Axel a small nod, "Now, it sounds like you're about to pass out so we'll take off. On our way out, I'll get the phone number to this room so we can call directly if anything comes up—"

"—And I'll be back tomorrow with that dinner I promised."

Roxas smiled sleepily up at Axel, "Wake me up…if I'm asleep when you get here, alright?"

"You got it."

Stepping out of the room, Cloud watched as Axel followed him out then softly closed the door behind him. Once it was shut, Axel let out a long sigh and shook his head, "Man, I think today took about a year off of my life."

Cloud nodded his agreement as they walked back out towards the reception area, "Tell me about it."

Although they both fell into silence, Cloud knew that both of their minds were swarming with all sorts of thoughts and emotions as they continued toward the hospital entrance. What would have happened if Roxas had run into the Organization flunky and the criminal had still been carrying the gun he had tried to shoot Zexion with? Did the man still have the gun when Roxas stopped him? If he had thought to pull out his gun would he have shot at Roxas? What if something worse had happened?

The dangers of police work had never been as clear to Cloud as they were in that moment. Sure, he had been in Roxas's place once, a beat cop out on the street, back in Midgar for that matter, and had gotten through it relatively unscathed. But somehow it seemed different now. After all, Cloud knew how to protect himself. Roxas did to, but deep down…Cloud found that fact hard to emotionally rely on.

As they stepped out into the main entryway of the hospital, Cloud heard a sigh escape Axel for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, "…I need a cigarette. If you're gonna get Roxy's room phone number, could I step out for a bit?"

"Go for it." Usually, Cloud frowned on Axel's smoking habit but right now he understood completely. "You'd better finish by the time we leave though, or you're walking back. I don't want by car smelling smoky."

"Sure thing."

As Axel headed towards the front doors, Cloud took a right and walked up to the reception desk. After a quick explanation of who he was and a flash of his police badge, he was quickly able to get the number of a phone line that went directly into Roxas's room without even having to go through the hospital operator. While he was there, the receptionist had him fill out a few pages of paperwork for his brother before he was able to escape.

Sometime while they had been inside the hospital the sky had darkened into night. Even so, it didn't take long to locate Axel, the man leaning against the side of the building, the embers on the end of his cigarette glowing faintly as he took he took his last drag. Cloud gave a small wave to show that he was ready to go and Axel pushed himself off of the wall and ground out his cigarette under his boot before throwing it in a nearby garbage can, "Did you get the number?"

"Yeah. Remind me to give it to you before you take off tonight. The receptionist said that Rox was scheduled to stay in that room for another three days, so the same phone number should work the whole time. She also said that because he's a cop, they'll return his cell phone to him tomorrow morning so that he can keep in contact with us. "

"Good."

Moonlight shone down on the pair of detectives as they walked back to Cloud's converted squad car. It would have been a beautiful summer night had circumstances been different. Climbing into the driver's seat, Cloud paused a moment as he took hold of the steering wheel, waiting until Axel had slid into the passenger's side before speaking. "You know the license number that Roxas sent into dispatch will probably lead us to the guy…"

Axel's eyes once again took on a hard, dangerous glint. It was times like these that once again reminded Cloud that Axel had once worked for the Organization himself and had somewhat different views about the law than Cloud did. "That's what I'm hoping for."

Leaning forward onto the steering wheel, Cloud stared up through the front windshield at the hospital, "When we find out who the guy is, we're going to have to make a choice…we can either bring him down or—"

"—There's an 'or'?—"

"—_or_ we can let him lead us to the Organization. After this, even if he was hiding from the Organization for a while thanks to his botched up message delivery with Zexion, he'll probably run back to them as protection once every cop within a two hundred mile radius is keeping their eyes open for him. He could be the key to breaking the other case we have going."

Axel scoffed but, seeing that Cloud was serious, scowled, "We'll see. All I have to say though is that if I'm the first person to find that bastard, you better believe that it'll be the last day of his life. So if you want to use him as a lead, you'd better find him first."

Cloud frowned but didn't respond as he started up the car. If that happened, Cloud was pretty sure that for the first time he'd be able to turn his head and keep quiet about any misuse of power. Anyone who tried to kill a cop, who tried to kill his little brother, would be getting exactly what they deserved.

* * *

Squall looked up from his cup of black coffee as the house phone rang. Wondering who would be calling so early, he set his mug down and rose to his feet. Last night he hadn't finished up with Zexion and Riku until two in the morning. Despite Zexion's claims that it wouldn't take long, editing their tracking data took longer than they had all expected. In fact, Zexion hadn't even quite finished when Squall had left. After spending four hours in a small room with Riku his patience had run out and he had had to leave before one of them ended up dead.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to sleep in since he had work today. Sora, on the other hand, was still snoozing away in his room. Without any school to have to worry about over the summer, his brother had devolved into an odd sleeping schedule, sometimes naturally waking at seven, other days at ten, and other days somewhere in between. Squall didn't bother keeping up.

Grabbing the phone, Squall frowned at the caller ID. Cloud. Of course it was. Who else? "Hello?"

"_Leon, it's Cloud. Listen, there have been some developments in the case_."

Raising a brow, Squall carried the cordless phone with him back over to the kitchen table and sat down, "Which case are you talking about?"

He heard a sigh, "The _case, the Organization, all that. Last night, we, or Roxas, managed to locate the man who attacked Zexion._"

Now he was interested. "Where was he?"

"_Roxas found him during a traffic stop and the two got into a scuffle._" Cloud paused and Squall immediately knew that something was off.

"What happened?"

"_Roxas ended up in the hospital and the man got away. We got his license number though and Axel and I are tracking it down._"

Squall trusted that Cloud and Axel were both doing all that they could to hunt the Organization member down so he tried to put that out of his mind. What concerned him more at the moment was Cloud's tone of voice. He could hear the tension in it over the phone and knew that Cloud didn't get flustered easily. And, as an older brother, Squall could imagine what was bothering the other man. "How's Roxas?"

"_Huh? Oh, good, he's…he'll be alright. He's a tough kid._"

Frowning, Squall settled back in his chair. Cloud was putting up a front and it hurt a little. He knew that the detective had issues about talking about his private life, but he thought he might've been someone that the blonde felt comfortable confiding in. Apparently not. "Good. Is there anything I can do, or—"

Cloud answered before Squall was even able to finish his sentence, "_No. You don't do a thing. In fact, that's another reason I called. With everything going on, I don't know if I'll be able to make it to Traverse Town this weekend, but that doesn't mean you get to run wild. I know you and Zexion are up to something—hell, probably Riku's involved too—but all three of you just need to keep a low profile and keep everything completely legal._"

Deciding it would be best not to ever bring up what he had been up to last night, Squall kept his voice clear of any guilt, "Yeah, because I've shown so many signs of returning to a criminal life in the last two years…"

His sarcasm did not go unrecognized and he heard Cloud sigh again, "_I know, I know, it's just…_" It's just that Cloud still didn't trust him. Squall got it, loud and clear. "_Look, I have to go. I just wanted to call and let you know that we're making a headway so none of you need to bother about doing anything yourselves. Alright? Tell Zexion and Riku to behave themselves. Axel's going to be just as busy as I am and Roxas won't, be at work for a while._"

"I'm not their keeper…but," Squall rolled his eyes, "I'll see what I can do."

"_Thanks. I'll keep you updated._"

A dial tone filled his ear and Squall pulled the phone away and set it down on the table. Maybe he would eventually have to go check up on Roxas himself if he was able to find the time for a two hour trip to Twilight Town. He didn't know the younger Strife nearly as well as he knew Cloud, which, as he thought about it, didn't actually say too much, but Roxas was still Cloud's younger brother and Squall was still concerned about him. If Sora had been in a similar situation, Squall knew that he would have been a wreck and hoped that Cloud was keeping it together.

As if thinking about him had roused him from slumber, a few minutes later a sleepy Sora tottered into the kitchen. Stifling a yawn behind his hand, the teen shuffled towards the cupboard for a bowl and a box of cereal, "Who called?"

Picking his cup back up, Squall took another sip of coffee and willed the caffeine to kick in, "Cloud. Apparently," Squall caught himself. He hadn't really told Sora exactly what was going on yet, so he wouldn't get it if he said that there was a development in the case, "apparently Roxas was injured at a traffic stop last night."

Sora suddenly looked very awake and his head whipped around to stare at Squall, "Is he alright?"

"Cloud said he's being hospitalized but it sounds like he'll pull through just fine."

Sora let out a sigh of relief, "That's good…Though I bet that's the last thing all of you needed right now, huh?"

Even when Sora wasn't told about the entire situation, he had somehow still managed to understand the basics. Squall wasn't sure whether to admire or resent that sense of perception. "Yeah. Things seem to be reaching a breaking point and Cloud will need to keep a level head…" Glancing back up, he noticed the concerned look hadn't faded from Sora's face, "Don't worry, he'll do what needs to be done. Cloud's not one to let his emotions get in the way of business…"

Sora's expression relaxed but into a sympathetic frown and Squall realized that he had let too much of his own frustrations slip out into his tone of voice. Unable to stay still while Sora was looking at him like that, Squall once again put his mug down and pushed his chair out, the wooden chair legs scraping against the tiled floor, "I'm going to go get the paper."

"Wait, Squall…"

His little brother's voice faltered and Squall didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. If it was one thing he didn't want, and would never want, it was pity. Not from anyone about anything, but especially not from Sora. Pity meant that there was something wrong enough in your life to attract the sympathy of others. Pity meant that you were weak. He refused to let Sora ever see him like that.

Taking a moment to get himself to relax, Squall stretched as he reached the front door. The strain felt great on his muscles which had been all bunched up; it wasn't that he was doing a lot of heavy labor or anything, it was just all the sudden tension made him constantly on his guard and stiff. It just wasn't good for the body.

After he had successfully unwound, Squall unlocked the front door and swung it open. The air outside was already warm, a hint of the temperatures to come, and the sky was perfectly clear. It was going to be a nice day, maybe Sora could even get out for a bit on his skateboard. However, the trashcans sitting on the curb reminded Squall that he had chores to do, including bringing the rest of the trash out, before he went to work. He could spare five more minutes or so before he had to worry about that though.

Stepping outside in his bare feet, Squall made a beeline for the newspaper sitting a few feet away from their doorstep. Now that he thought about it, maybe there would be something in it about Roxas's traffic stop. Even if it had happened in Twilight Town, Traverse Town usually had pretty slow news days so they'd probably run such an exciting story in the local newspaper.

After snatching the paper up, Squall immediately unfolded it and began to flip through the pages as he turned to head back in. He was so intent on skimming headlines that he almost completely missed the small package sitting against the side of the house, his peripheral vision catching a corner of the brown paper packaging a second before he stepped back inside.

Squall raised a brow as he bent down to check it out. It definitely hadn't been there last night, or, early this morning, when he returned home and since the mailman didn't deliver in the morning, it had to have been shipped through a separate company. But he hadn't heard anyone ring the doorbell or knock when they dropped it off…

Picking it up, Squall turned his head to call back into the house, "Sora, were you expecting a package?"

"Nope! Why?" Sora's voice echoed out from the kitchen and it was clear that the teen had just finished shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth when Squall asked.

"I found one outside." Tucking the paper under his arm, Squall flipped the package over to check who sent it and when he didn't find an address his suspicions peaked. For a minute, he had thought that it might have been something from Cloud, but then it would've had a sender's address on it. His next thought was that it was from Zexion or Riku, but that didn't seem to fit either of the two. Anything that Zexion would bother to send him would probably be too expensive for Zexion to be willing to just leave unattended in a cardboard box outside his house until Squall found it and Riku, well knowing that bastard, he probably would've just walked right into the house and handed it to Squall.

Whether or not it was a product of his paranoia, that left only one option in Squall's mind. It had to be from the Organization.

It was all just a question now of what was inside.

The box felt fairly light in his hands, though it still had some mass to it. Thinking back on what he knew about their methods, Squall guessed that it was probably some kind of warning. Was it something stupid like some sort of dismembered part of some animal like in the movies? Was it something more dangerous? Pulling it closer to inspect it for anything that would give him a hint as to its content, Squall noticed something that instantly sent his heart up into his throat.

A soft, barely audible _tick, tick, tick_.

Closing his eyes, Squall slowly counted to five to calm himself back down. A bomb. It was a bomb. His first concern was Sora and he glanced back into the house to make sure that the teen hadn't come out to investigate what was taking so long. He knew that his brother was bound to get curious, as he always did, but he had to keep him away. Finding his voice, Squall made sure to remove any edge of panic that he might have been feeling on the inside as he called back into the house through the open front door. He was a SeeD damn it; he could handle this. "Hey Sor, stay right where you are, alright?"

"Huh?"

"Stay where you are."

"Why?" Squall let out a breath as Sora's voice seemed not to move although it did raise in volume so that Squall could hear him clearly from outside the house.

"Just do what I say." Slowing, making sure that his hands were completely steady, Squall lowered the box back down onto the ground, barely even breathing as he pulled his hands away.

He had to think; what sort of bomb was it? It was on a timer, so that probably meant that movement wouldn't necessarily trigger it, although he definitely didn't want to test that. It hadn't felt too heavy though, not like some of the explosives that he had used out on the battlefield, so it probably wasn't too powerful. Once again, not something that he necessarily wanted to test. The weight made him think that it was something small and the ticking of the timer indicated that it was probably something that had been handmade. Most professional grade stuff would've been silent. And a homemade bomb usually equaled a pipe bomb.

Squall's mind seemed to switch to automatic as he instantly began to run through the implications of the situation in his head, the result of too much military training. The enemy combatants had used some similar weapons and they were typically non-incendiary, based more on producing a hail of deadly shrapnel than flames. He had to get it contained, some sort of large, thick metal box would be best…On the other hand, it would probably be best to call the authorities. Even Traverse Town was sure to have some sort of Special Ops team in their police force, maybe some sort of Bomb Squad. If he could just get to the phone—

The ticking stopped.

Not stopping to think, Squall just let his body move on its own. Sprinting two steps to where the trashcans were sitting by the curb, Squall kicked it over then pulled it up into the air by its bottom, dumping all of the contents out onto the sidewalk. Running back to the box in one giant leap just, he arrived just in time to slam the thick aluminum can upside-down over the cardboard box before a smothered explosion split the relative silence of a peaceful weekday morning.

The impact knocked his grip on the trashcan loose and sent him flying back about a foot onto his bottom, his ear's ringing. Swallowing, Squall slowly pushed his bangs out of his face and winced as the stench of black powder reached his nose. The thrash can itself had turned into a pin cushion, pieces of broken glass and twisted metal jutting half and inch to about three inches out of the can in every direction, a small trail of black smoke wafting out from the puncture marks up towards the cloudless sky. The shape of the can had been warped, the metal bowed out from the force of the explosion, but the container had done its job; it didn't look like any pieces had escaped.

Squall heard footsteps racing toward him and turned his head to find Sora standing in the doorway, the teen's chest heaving as his pale face stared out at the scene in front of him, "_Squall_! What, what happened?!"

"You didn't stay put."

"That doesn't matter, Squall! What happened? Are you alright?!"

Giving a small nod, Squall rolled back up onto his feet to prove his point, "I'm fine." His butt hurt a bit from his rough landing, but for the most part it was miraculously true. His quick action with the trashcan had probably saved his life. Making his way over to his said savior, he cautiously prodded at the can. A bomb like that probably only had one explosion in it, but it was always good to be on the safe side. Seeing Sora take a small step forward out of the corner of his eye, Squall barked out a sharp order, "Stay right where you are!"

"But Squall--!"

"I said stay!" Once he was sure that Sora's feet had stopped shuffling forward, Squall gingerly tipped the perforated trashcan. Inside, very little remained of what used to be the cardboard box, the flimsy material having been torn to shreds by the explosion and the shrapnel. Instead the trashcan was filled with broken pieces of what appeared to have been metal tubes, confirming Squall's suspicions that it had been a pipe bomb. The interior of the trashcan was filled with residue of the black powder which had undoubtedly fueled the explosive reaction, the leftover particles in the air tickling his nose as he breathed in.

Despite the impressive aftermath Squall could tell that the bomb had been made by someone with little, if any, real experience in creating explosive devices. The metal of the pipe had been shoddily welded together and from the smell and look of the black powder residue, Squall could tell that their ratio of different elements was off from what would have been considered ideal for an explosive chemical recipe. It had probably been made by another Organization flunky then, the bombing itself an unauthorized attack similar to what happened to Zexion. Thinking it over, a bomb being delivered to his house violated the one rule Zexion and Riku had established about the Organization—that it didn't attack its targets in their homes—so the idea that the bomb had been delivered by an overenthusiastic Organization thug made the most sense.

Some of the remnant pieces of the pipe bomb could probably be used to trace it back to its maker. Either way, it was clear now—things weren't reaching a breaking point, they were just getting started.

* * *

The sharp ring of a telephone startled Cloud out of his thoughts, Axel jumping in his seat across the room. Realizing that it wasn't his desk phone but his cell phone, Cloud began to dig through his jacket pockets as Axel settled back in his chair with a small grumble about needing to look into decaffeinated coffee. Finally finding the annoying device, Cloud flipped it open with a scowl, "Hello?"

"_It's Leon._"

Cloud leaned over his desk and rubbed his forehead, willing away his building headache. Great. Just great. Leon never called, which meant that something was up. He and Axel had pretty much pulled an all-nighter yesterday after they had got back from visiting Roxas in the hospital. The only break he had gotten since then was an hour long trip back to his apartment to shower, pull on a change of clothes, eat, and take a half an hour nap. Axel hadn't even left the office since they got back, though the redhead had passed out on his desk for about for about forty-five minutes around three in the morning, which may or may not have counted as a nap. Basically the bottom line was he really didn't want to talk to Leon about anything else that might be happening right now. "What is it?"

"_I just thought I should let you know, the Organization made another move. Or at least one of their thugs did, I doubt it was on an order from whoever's running the show._"

Leaning his forehead down to rest on the cold wooden desktop, Cloud let out a sigh. The normal feeling of dread that usually would have settled in his stomach at such news didn't come to his emotionally exhausted mind. "What happened?"

"_Someone left a bomb at my house—_"

Or maybe his mind had just a little more emotion to wring out of it after all. Sitting bolt upright, causing Axel to nearly jump out of his seat again, Cloud clutched the phone in his hand, "A bomb? Please, for god's sakes, tell me that you called the Traverse Town PD before me!"

"_Hm? Oh, it already went off._" Cloud's headache flared up into a full-blown migraine, "_I handled it though. It was just a pipe bomb._"

"Oh, just a pipe bomb. Great! Only minimal mortal injuries could've been inflicted then." Cloud knew that being so sarcastic was juvenile but it was hard to keep it bottled up when Leon was acting as if he was describing the weather. Axel raised an eyebrow and Cloud just shook his head and got back to the matter at hand, "Are you okay?"

"_Yeah, though my trashcan's a little beat up. I did call the Traverse Town police and they're sending someone over to collect evidence, but I was hoping that you might be able to rush some of this through the lab in Twilight Town. It might lead you to whoever planted it here._"

Ignoring the questions he had about why a trashcan had been brought into the conversation, Cloud rested his forehead in his hand, "Even if I put it on rush, it would still take weeks to get it through processing and we just don't have that kind of time. I doubt that bomb was even planted by the guy who nearly ran Roxas over. Since he's been on the run for a few days, there's no way he would've risked being caught at the scene of another crime."

"_Then it can lead you to another suspect in the Organization and—_"

Cloud cut off his parolee with a growl, "—Leon, listen. On any other day I would've gone along with this but right now, I'm going after whatever lowlife tried to kill my brother. Anything else and all the rest of this Organization crap's going to have to wait. You're trying to push the investigation forward. I get it. Now let it go. I don't have the time to deal with it."

"_Cloud—_"

"—Like I said, the evidence will take weeks to process either way and I'm not going to waste my time with that when the Traverse Town PD are already on their way over. Let me know if you think you're in any danger or you get attacked again. Otherwise I don't want to hear anything else about it until things clear up, got it?"

There was a long pause before Leon gave a gruff reply, "…_Fine. Call me when you can spare the time to talk._" Hearing an abrupt click then a dial tone, Cloud could tell that the soldier wasn't happy. Like he had told Leon though, on any other day he would've become more involved but right now he had to focus on the single goal of locating the guy who put Roxas in the hospital.

As Cloud slipped his cell phone back into his jacket pocket, Axel gave a low whistle from the other side of the room, "You sure gave him an earful. Leon, right?"

The blonde gave a tight nod before getting back to work. He and Axel had traced the license plate number Roxas had reported back to dispatch right before he got into the scuffle and had received a name and address. From what Cloud could remember from Zexion and Roxas's description of the guy who barged into Zexion's apartment, the physical appearance matched. He had sent a squad car to the car owner's listed home address but so far the guy hadn't gone back to his house yet so he was still running free. "Yeah. Apparently the Organization sent him a pipe bomb."

Axel's brows rose again, "Things sure have changed since I was left the group."

Cloud returned Axel's look with an annoyed glance, "How's that?"

"Well, leaving a bomb's just a little low-brow is all."

"The Organization is made up of a bunch of thugs, Axel."

"Yeah, but they're thugs with class. I should know; it was the only way I could live with myself for years."

Rolling his eyes, Cloud turned back to his paperwork, "Unless you have pertinent information regarding the case, I definitely don't want to listen to any of your street gang memoirs, Ax. It's hard enough to forget without you mentioning it."

"Right. Anyway, I got all excited there for a minute, I thought that someone was calling about—Oh!" Axel's face lit up as the phone on his desk actually rang, "Hey look at that, speak of the devil." Grabbing the phone, the redhead kicked his feet up onto his desk and gave Cloud a thumbs up, "Detective Flynn speaking."

Cloud watched his partner's face intently as the man spoke into the receiver, waiting for the smallest hint of whatever news he was getting, "Hey, Officer Henderson, what news do you have from the front?...Uh-huh…_What?!_" It was Cloud's turn to nearly fall out of his chair as Axel suddenly shouted into the phone, "No, we'll come right away. Keep the scene clean until we get there."

Cloud was up onto his feet before Axel was even able to hang up the phone, "What's up?"

Tilting his head as he stood, Axel grabbed the case file off of his desk, "You want the good news or the bad news first?"

Grabbing his car keys, handgun, and badge, Cloud shoved them all into their correct pockets and holsters, "I don't think I can take any more bad news without hearing some good first. We're taking my car, right?"

"Yeah, we'll need to get across town. Okay, good news is that Officer Henderson, the man we had watching our perp's house, just got wind of the suspect's location."

A small weight felt like it had been lifted off of Cloud's shoulders, "Alright, what's the bad news? We're going to go pick the guy up now, right?"

"Ah, in a way." Following Cloud out of their office, Axel pulled his wild red spikes back into a somewhat presentable ponytail now that he was going out in public, "That sort of brings me to the bad news. Henderson found our perp, but it looks like the only way we're getting him back to the station is in a body bag."

"What?"

"Yeah. While Henderson was staking out the perp's house, he received a call for backup at an auto accident and when he went to assist he immediately recognized the wrecked car. Apparently our guy somehow ended up slamming face first into a tree trunk and died on impact."

Cloud remained silent, but inside his head he was cursing up a storm as he practically ran down the stairs that led to the parking lot outside of the police station. Despite what he had said earlier--that anyone who hurt his brother would be getting what they deserved if they died—Cloud was suddenly feeling beyond frustrated. He remained silent, unable to trust himself to speak without swearing, until they made it to his car and climbed in. Even then, his voice was terse and didn't match Axel's grim smile, "We'll have to get there fast then to make sure any evidence isn't compromised. Where are we going?"

"Across town, past Sunset Hill. From what they said, the guy should've crashed on the main road down there so he shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Good."

On the way there, Cloud just barely followed traffic laws until he got frustrated by the early morning traffic and flipped on his police lights and siren, once again proving to himself the advantages of driving an old, salvaged police cruiser. With the lights and the siren, traffic laws turned into more of traffic guidelines as Cloud tore through stoplights and weaved on and off of the shoulder of the road in order to get passed traffic jams. By the time they finally arrived on the scene, Axel was gripping his seatbelt with one hand while the other hand was stretched out to brace himself against the dashboard.

The redhead only relaxed as Cloud shifted into park, "I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes."

"Don't be a baby. Come on, let's get out there."

"I'm not sure my legs will work."

Rolling his eyes, Cloud climbed out and slammed the driver's side door behind him, giving his partner an icy glare until he began to climb out as well. Once Axel began to move, Cloud's eyes drifted up to take in the scene. They were indeed on one of the main roads leading into the city and out towards small suburb communities. The traffic was a little lighter here and what cars where driving through were already being diverted by the police officers who had first responded to the accident. Besides his own, there were two other squad cars and an ambulance present, blocking whatever lay beyond from the view of the public eye. By the way that the EMTs were waiting around the back of their vehicle Cloud knew that Axel had been right—their perp was dead, and the EMTs were now undoubtedly waiting for the coroner to arrive.

As soon as Axel, and all of his fully-functional limbs, were standing next to him, the two made their way down to the accident, the scene revealing itself as they walked around the ambulance and down a small grassy embankment off the side of the road. The first thing that Cloud saw was a large tree had been knocked over and it took him half a second to realize that there was a car embedded into the felled tree's trunk. The crashed car was almost completely obscured by shrubs and underbrush, the hood of the car so compacted that the windshield was practically touching the bark of the tree. The car's windows were spiderwebbed with fractures and it was hard to see inside but the driver's door had been forced open to expose a figure slumped over the steering wheel.

The EMTs gave the two detectives a small nod as they approached. Cloud and Axel both highly recognizable in the law enforcement community, not only because they were visually distinctive but also because they were Twilight Town's only designated homicide detectives. They of course had also been two of the leading players in the Organization fiasco two years ago and had pretty much been in the town's newspapers nonstop during the trials. "Hey, Detective Strife, Detective Flynn. Henderson's down by the car making sure that nothing gets disturbed. He said that you wanted to take a look at it before we removed the body?"

Cloud could hear the question in the man's voice, "That's right. We're pretty sure he is, was, involved in a case we're working on. Can you tell me anything about what happened?"

A female EMT stepped forward, "I was the one to examine the body. It's a little difficult to give an exact cause of death with him slumped over like that and without having performed an autopsy, but it definitely looks like the guy bled out. He has a nasty cut across his chest that looks pre-mortem and it seems to have been bleeding heavily even before the guy crashed. I'm guessing that he passed out from all the blood loss, lost control of his car, and rammed into the tree. The actual cause of death seems to be a broken neck, but I doubt the guy would've lasted much longer even if he didn't crash given his condition."

"Thanks." Moving on, Cloud slid down the rest of the embankment, carefully avoiding the muddy tire tracks that had been dug into the earth, Axel hot on his heels. From the other side of the car, Officer Henderson, a policeman from their precinct, popped his head up and gave them a tight smile, "Detectives, glad you can make it. Except for the footprints and the driver's door, the scene is as pristine as I found it. We went ahead and took pictures of anything we thought looked suspicious and, once we're done here, the crime scene techs will come in and take a few more shots."

Smiling back, Axel nodded, "Good work. You've been here guarding this stiff for a while, right? Go ahead and take a coffee break if you want."

"Thanks, Flynn. I might just take you up on that. I'll be gone for about ten minutes then, but if you need anything just holler up and one of the guys on traffic control can come down and give you a hand."

"Sure thing."

Cloud frowned as Axel's smile failed to fade away after Henderson had left them to their work. Before he started however, Cloud pulled his phone out and snapped a picture of the man's face. When Axel raised a brow, Cloud explained as he attached the picture to a text and sent it out, "I want to make sure this is our guy before we get started. I sent it to Rox. He should have his cell phone back by now."

"Oh. I don't know if you'll get a response for a while though, Roxas is probably sleep—" Axel was cut off by a shrill beep from Cloud's cell, "—or not."

Looking down at the screen, Cloud's brows furrowed as he read his brother's response, "_Thats the guy!! Hes dead? WTF?_" Well damn. There was no way around it now; he was just going to have to make the best of what was left behind. "Roxas says we got the right man." Much to Cloud's irritation, Axel's smile grew at the news.

Kneeling, Cloud pulled out his notepad and a pen from his pocket and began to examine the scene. Leaning in toward the dead man, Cloud's blue eyes scanned over every detail, looking for anything that would help connect him to Roxas or to the Organization, "What are you so happy about?"

Crouching down beside him, Axel took a look at the seatbelt Roxas had gotten tangled up in, being careful not to contaminate the scene by touching anything, "The guy's dead. The idiot saved me a lot of trouble by killing himself."

Scowl deepening, Cloud stopped what he was doing to glare at Axel, "How can you say that? If he's dead, how are we going to get him to put him in prison?"

Axel shrugged without even glancing up before getting down on his hands and knees to examine the car's undercarriage, "I don't know, I think slamming head first into a tree is a pretty suitable substitution. I mean, it would've been better if he hadn't been passed out from blood loss so he could've been aware of it, but nothing's perfect."

"But he'll never be held responsible for what he did to Roxas! Or for shooting Zexion. He should've been brought to court, plead guilty, and been sentenced to life without parole! He could have led us to right to the Organization! He was the key to our investigation!"

Finally meeting Cloud's eyes, Axel sat back up, sharp green eyes searching electric blue as Axel nodded toward the wrecked car, "So, you're telling me that you gain no satisfaction from this?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes then shook his head, "This isn't justice."

"…You have a weird sense of justice."


	4. Chapter 4

OMG, sorry for the wait! Holy crap...My computer finally got fixed though, having risen from its ashes with a bit of time—and money-and now I'm back in business! At least I didn't lose any of my files…Good news for the fanfiction-ness of it all…

Thank you for everyone for being patient with me, and most especially to the most awesomest of dudes: nearcreature, Down n Dirty, FuzzyLion, TwlightMystery, YumiStar, Little Wolf Vamp Hearts Yaoi, Dragi, xHanako, Shinimegami7, Stellar Eclipse, Nekotsubasa, DirtyZephyrAssassin, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, chibi heishi, Oreo, Bane-Dane, RealityInABottle, ChaosGarden, RkM4U, Becca86, MeykoLove, , xacilia, ooXloveXoo582, ramen-is-my-goddess, LoneBoy7, and Koyuki! Thank you for reviewing! ^_^ Now, without further ado, onto the story!

O

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Chapter 4

* * *

Night didn't come fast enough for Squall. After he had hung up on Cloud, he had dialed Zexion up on his cell, knowing that even though Cloud hadn't been interested in the bombing attempt his old accomplice would be. Squall hadn't been disappointed. After he had explained the situation, Zexion had immediately agreed that it would be best to get the evidence left behind from the pipe bomb tested. Then he had proceeded to rather enigmatically order Squall to collect some of the residual components of the bomb before the Traverse Town Police arrived and to meet up after nine at night at their old headquarters.

Squall had obeyed without question at the time but now that several hours had passed he couldn't stop thinking about what Zexion wanted, his mind occupied with guessing about it the whole day at work. That is, the part of his mind that wasn't stressing out over leaving Sora at home while he left to go to Cid's workshop. After the bomb scare, he hadn't wanted to leave Sora alone, even at the house, even when the Traverse Town Police had promised to leave an officer to keep an eye on things for a while. Eventually though, having recovered from the morning's shock, Sora had almost literally pushed Squall out the front door himself. Apparently he had gotten tired of watching Squall sit by the front window with his gun in his hand.

Now, though, the sun had finally set and Squall could finally _do_ something about what happened that morning.

Making it back home and gratefully finding nothing to be amiss, Squall took a shower, quickly threw together something for dinner, spent half an hour with Sora after they ate, then jumped back onto his motorcycle and headed back out. He still wasn't sure what Zexion was going to do with the evidence but he had a mix of parts from the exploded pipe bomb tucked away in his bike's saddle bag.

When he arrived at their headquarters Squall's curiosity was only further piqued when he caught sight of Zexion and Riku loitering around outside the building. They were both leaning against the wall just out of the glow of the streetlight and the murmured conversation passing between them stopped as Squall drove up. Stopping in front of them, Squall pulled off his helmet and raised a brow. "What's going on?"

Riku smirked at his cautious expression but Zexion seemed more understanding as he slowly straightened up. "Nothing that you need to worry about. After receiving your call this morning, I made some phone calls of my own. I assume you brought material from the pipe bomb with you?" At Squall's nod, Zexion continued, "Good. I agree with you that it will be in our best interest to learn more about the individuals trying to kill us and so have contacted an old acquaintance of mine to lend us a hand. Or, a lab as it were."

Squall's eyes narrowed just slightly. "I assume you're standing outside because we're going to see this guy tonight?"

"Correct."

"Is this something I should go back and grab my handgun for?"

Zexion paused for a moment, looking as if he were actually considering the question, before shaking his head. "No, you should be fine going in unarmed. He never was one for firearms. I am impressed that you failed to bring a weapon with you tonight, however. I think you may be trusting us too much."

Squall frowned and dismounted his bike. "I don't know if I'd go that far. If you wanted to kill me you would've done it already or I would've had to give you a reason to do so."

"Who said we'd need a reason?" Squall glared back at Riku as the silver-haired man spoke up, "Relax, it was a joke. Anyway, don't worry about tonight; I have enough guns on me for all of us if Zexion's buddy tries anything."

Snorting, Squall dug out the plastic bag of pipe bomb debris out of his saddle bag. The idea that Riku was packing heat wasn't that much of a comfort, though it was a bit strange that Riku was acting like he would protect Squall if something went wrong. The last time they had seen each other they had been ready to rip each other's throats out. Pushing the idea that Sora had had something to do with Riku's attitude change out of his mind, Squall turned back to Zexion. "So where are we going and how are we getting there?"

At the question, Zexion began to walk down the sidewalk towards a small side-street, Squall and Riku following along behind him. "We will be taking the van. He lives in the outskirts of Dark City so it will be a bit of a drive to get there and back, but I suppose that is the price one pays for fast service."

Riku threw an exasperated look over to Squall. "Oh, well, thanks for letting us know earlier, Zex. Good thing I didn't have anything like sleeping planned for tonight."

As usual, Riku's complaints didn't phase Zexion who simply continued to walk, the three of them rounding the corner to find the same van they had used in their heists two years ago parked in the alleyway. "I am not worried about you Riku, since you seem to be nocturnal. On the other hand, Leon, you are welcomed to sit in front with me and sleep during the drive since you have a normal job and may require some rest."

Smirking back at Riku, Squall nevertheless shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I'll ride in the back."

"Suit yourself." Wrenching the van's back doors open, Zexion stepped aside to allow Squall and Riku space to climb in. It didn't surprise Squall in the least to find that very little had changed and it spoke volumes that Zexion hadn't bothered to get rid of any of the gear sitting in the back that they had used to break into houses. As he and Riku found good places to sit, Zexion's voice broke through his thoughts. "Now, this will be a long ride and I do not want to hear any fighting going on back here. As you undoubtedly remember, the equipment around you is expensive and I do not want it ruined by blood or by someone getting smashed into it."

Squall rolled his eyes and Riku sneered back, "Yes, mother. Gods, Zexion, we're not five."

The shorter man pursed his lips, "Sometimes I find that difficult to believe. The warning was a valid one seeing that the two of you seem to have been at odds recently. If you need anything, the batteries in the headsets should still work and I will keep mine on up front. Remember, no roughhousing."

Zexion's tone left no room for any sort of disobedience as he slammed the van doors shut. A few seconds passed before they both heard the driver's side door open then close again and the engine flared to life. Squall and Riku suddenly lurched to the side as Zexion accelerated, Riku scowling as he grabbed onto a box to keep himself from sliding around. "You'd think Zexion would've installed seats back here or something by now. At least a couple of seatbelts."

Quirking a brow, Squall just managed to keep himself upright. "You don't really seem the type to wear seatbelts."

A breath of air escaped the younger man. "I'm a criminal, but I'm not stupid. If a seatbelt's going to keep this face from smashing through a windshield, it's worth the second it takes to buckle, especially during car chases."

"Been in many of those?"

"A few. And I haven't been caught yet. I'm a damn good driver."

"You should really work on those self-esteem issues of yours…"

Riku smirked back, "Why waste time on false modesty?"

It was a miracle to Squall that Sora saw anything in this pompous brat. A terrible, hellish miracle. At least Riku wasn't blatantly picking a fight today, not that it didn't mean he wasn't still getting on Squall's nerves. Lifting a hand, Squall pressed it to his forehead. "Let's just both shut up for the rest of the ride. Otherwise we might get blood on Zexion's gear."

"Fine. Don't blame me if you get bored though."

"Whatever."

oOoOo

By the time that they arrived at their destination, Squall wasn't bored as much as he was about to fall asleep. It wasn't that he was tired—there was nothing much else to do when you were holed up in a small space with no windows and no good sense of speed or direction. Across from him, Riku had his eyes closed as well, although it didn't seem like he was really asleep either. He was a little surprised that Riku had managed to last so long doing nothing, though he probably should have had a little more faith in the man. Riku was a gunman after all, a sniper, and someone like that would have to be able to wait hours at a time without moving.

Riku's eyes flickered open as the van started to slow and by the time it had come to a stop both Squall and Riku were waiting by the doors, ready to be let out. Zexion didn't keep them waiting long, the doors swinging open a minute later. "We are here. Now, before we go in, I must ask you not to touch anything. He is particular about such things."

Jumping out, Squall quickly took in their new surroundings. They seemed to be on the very outskirts of Dark City, the metropolis's downtown skyline glittering off toward the east. Their current location looked like it was part of the industrial area of the city, a run-down looking warehouse looming a few feet away. The area was so ill-lit that Squall could barely see a hundred yards away but he could still see that the building they were standing in front of had had better days. The windows were all boarded up, though most of them had been smashed out regardless, and one entire side of the structure seemed to be slumping a little.

Walking up to stand beside him, Riku glanced the building over and his lips curled into a frown. It seemed that Riku was as clueless about the guy who they were about to meet as he was. "This is it?"

"Yes."

"It looks like it should be condemned."

Squall had to agree. And he didn't like the thought of spending any time inside of the warehouse either. It looked like it was about ready to collapse.

Zexion eyed them both before walking over to what appeared to be the main entrance. "Appearances can be deceiving."

A disgusted edge slipped across Riku's face as the man's eyes focused in on the door Zexion was headed towards. "The building's covered in mold and that door's so rusted it's about to fall off of its hinges."

Riku was right on all counts, but as he followed Zexion over to the door, Squall noticed something that made him question how much of the building was actually designed to divert attention. While the door looked to be almost entirely coated in rust, the lock hanging from a thick chain stretched across the entrance was brand new.

Eyeing the warehouse with a renewed sense of suspicion, Squall waited a few steps back as Zexion strode right up to the door and gave three firm knocks, the sound reverberating through the metal. The sound slowly faded away only to be replaced by a stretched silence. Riku finally stepped over to join them at the door and Squall could almost sense uneasiness welling up inside the other man as well. "Are you sure you got the right place?"

Zexion nodded without turning his head. "I am certain. I have been here more than a few times. It just takes him a moment to get to the door. Ah, here we are…"

There was a faint noise of creaking gears before the large door slid open, the piercing screech of the heavy metal door on the concrete walkway sending a shiver up Squall's spine. Although the door was open, no one was standing behind it. The only thing waiting to greet them was a long, dark tunnel that led into the warehouse, the space poorly lit by pale fluorescent lighting.

The only one who didn't seem to be phased by this was Zexion. Putting his hands on his hips, Riku stared down into the tunnel with more than a hint of distrust. "Is your friend a ghost, or does he just like theatrics?"

Zexion's lips quirked up into a small smirk. "Neither. This sort of décor is simply normal and pleasing to him. Now, shall we proceed?"

Riku let out a puff of air. "You first."

"Very well. Follow me closely then."

Neither Squall nor Riku decided to argue the command as they stepped inside, the hallway so narrow that they had to go in single-file. As he walked in just a step behind Zexion, Squall was hit with a wave of cold air as soon as he crossed the threshold into the building. It was like stepping into a walk-in freezer. Glad that he had worn his leather jacket despite the warm summer night air, Squall stuck his hands in his pockets, his breath clouding up in front of him as he exhaled.

He had only taken a few more steps when the sound of grinding metal suddenly filled the tight space and the door behind them slammed shut, Riku running into his back to avoid getting caught in any of the mechanisms. "—the hell? Zex, if we get trapped in here, I will kill you."

"Relax. We will be let out once our work here is done."

"Wow, that sounds so comforting. How do you know this guy anyway, and why haven't I heard about him before?"

There was a pause-the same pause that always came before Zexion revealed more about himself-before the man spoke, his voice echoing back to Squall and Riku, "I went to college in Dark City." Over the shorter man's shoulders, Squall saw that they were walking towards another door at the end of the corridor, this door looking a lot newer than the one guarding the main entrance. "During the time I was here, I met him and spent some time working for him. He also taught me more about computers and cyber crime than any professor I have ever had."

Squall's brows rose in surprise. The idea that they were about to meet the man who taught Zexion his computer skills was slightly intimidating in a strange way, "So is he better with all that computer stuff than you are?"

Squall couldn't hear the Zexion's huff but he saw it as a cloud of vapor escaped Zexion's lips. "Not anymore. I quickly outgrew his tutelage in the computer sciences. However, I will admit that he is more skilled than me in many other scientific capacities, which is why we are here today."

Reaching the second door, Zexion waited only a moment to give one knock before pushing his way through. Squall couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. Though the temperatures remained just as frigid, the claustrophobic corridor had opened into a huge space that must have spanned nearly the entire warehouse. Everywhere Squall looked there was a piece of technical equipment or a beaker stand, a light hum of electronics saturating the air. Before he could fully take the scene in, he heard footsteps marching towards them and turned just in time to see a man emerge from behind a towering metal bookshelf.

The man was tall and appeared to be thin, although most of his body was obscured by the long white lab coat. His long blonde hair hung around his face and when he spotted them, his icy blue eyes scanned over them methodically before zeroing in on Zexion. "Ienzo, or should I say Zexion. It's been a while."

Stepping forward, Zexion met the man with a quick handshake. "It has." Turning around to glance at them, Zexion waved in Squall and Riku's direction, "These are my, companions, Leon and Riku. I told you about them accompanying me in my email."

"Yes, yes, I remember." The scientist turned his piercing gaze on Squall and Riku and for the first time Squall realized that the man's breath didn't cloud up in front of him as he spoke. It was like his body had adapted to the cold temperatures. "You may call me Vexen. Usually I don't allow strangers to enter my laboratory but I made an exception at Zexion's request. Don't make me regret it."

Before Riku could sneer back an answer or Squall came up with his own indignant reply about being treated like a bull in a china shop, Zexion interrupted. "They will behave themselves, I assure you."

Vexen gave Squall and Riku both a hard stare before nodding. "Fine. What is it that you needed my help for? My experiments keep my schedule very tied up so this can't take too long."

Squall definitely didn't want to know what sort of experiments Vexen was conducting. He had only met Vexen's gaze twice now and he already thought he had caught a distinct glint of madness in the man's cold eyes. But he wasn't going to let the mad-scientist vibes scare him off. Schooling his features so that they remained carefully neutral, Squall pulled out the small packet of evidence that he had tucked away inside his jacket pocket and answered Vexen's question himself, having quickly grasped why Zexion had taken them here after seeing the place. "This morning a pipe bomb was left in front of my home. It went off before I could disarm it, but I collected some of what was left behind. We were hoping that you could run some tests on it to tell us a little more about who sent it." A quick glance over at Zexion told Squall that he had said the right thing.

Walking over, Vexen snatched up the bag of pipe bomb residue and peered at its contents. "Such a thing may be possible. A few quick experiments would show if this debris has any value to it."

Seeing that they had caught the scientist's interest, Zexion pressed further. "Just from your initial inspection, how much do you think we can learn from the sample?"

"Hm…" Vexen opened up the plastic bag and riffled through the broken bomb pieces with a gloved hand. "From what I see here…we should be able to classify the chemical compounds in their black powder formula and isolate those who have purchased the necessary chemical elements from the usual suppliers…We may be able to identify the manufacturer of the metal used in the pipe as well…" Vexen's voice trailed off into indistinct mumbles for half a minute before he straightened back up and his eyes turned back to Zexion. "There's a distinct possibility that I will be able to locate the person, or a list of persons involved with the creation of this bomb from the evidence provided. Dare I ask what you will do with such results if they are realized?"

Squall was sure that Zexion's "innocent" face didn't fool anyone in the room. "You may think of it simply as a matter of a fellow researcher's curiosity."

"Fine. I won't pry, Zexion, just keep me out of whatever mess you get into. I hate dealing with the authorities…"

As Vexen, with the bag of evidence still in hand, stalked off to locate some testing equipment, Riku took the chance to slip closer so that he was standing between Squall and Zexion. "This guy's a nut, Zex. Are you sure he's going to get the work done?"

If Zexion was insulted by Riku's questioning of his old mentor's sanity he didn't show it. "Vexen may seem a bit eccentric, but he really is the best at what he does. Far better, in fact, than the overworked staff operating in the under-equipped crime labs in Traverse Town or Twilight Town."

Squall frowned. "But I'm guessing that this, lab, he's got going here is less than legal, right?"

Zexion tilted his head. "I suppose that is the flip side of the story. Vexen is a genius, and I do not use that term lightly, but his personal experiments can be a bit…morally questionable." Pausing in thought, Zexion let out a small hum before shaking his head. "Actually, it would be best if you two stuck together while we are here. While Vexen is not an immediate threat to any of us, if it strikes him he may try to involve you in an experiment and that would not end well."

Riku managed a smirk despite the nervousness Squall saw in his eyes. "You sound like you've had some personal experiences with it."

"I would rather not talk about it."

Any further questioning was cut off by Vexen's voice echoing out from farther back inside the lab. "I've found what we'll need to run the tests. Zexion, break into the police databank so once we get our results we can cross-reference them with their files." A small chuckle escaped Squall; despite the situation, listening to Zexion getting ordered about like an assistant was amusing. "And you other two, I'm assuming that you have little to no experience in this sort of work so I will assign you tasks even an imbecile would be able to successfully complete to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Squall's smirk faded into a scowl and he grudgingly followed after Zexion as he led them towards where Vexen was setting things up. Keeping his voice low so that Vexen wouldn't catch it, Squall sent Zexion a cool look. "You didn't bring us along just to be gofers, did you?"

"Would I ever do such a thing?"

Letting out a small growl, Riku began to follow along. "Yes, you would, you ass. And I have better things to do than waste my time with Dr. Crackpot over there."

"Well it is too bad then that I am the only one with the keys to the van. Of course, the train station in Dark City is only about a four hour walk from here, so feel free to leave if that is what you really wish. Of course, you will have to convince Vexen to allow you to do so first, given that only he can unlock the front door…"

Riku sucked in a breath and was undoubtedly about to sling an insult back at Zexion when they rounded the corner Vexen had slipped behind and found him sitting at a long counter. Settling with a few muttered jabs, Riku crossed his arms as the three walked over to the scientist.

Glancing up, Vexen nodded towards his left as he slid on a pair of glasses to protect his eyes from any chemicals. "Zexion, the computer is just over there. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"I am sure I can."

Squall shifted awkwardly as Zexion abandoned them to sit down in front of a monitor at the far end of the metal counter, Vexen's eyes once again having landed on him and Riku. "You, what was your name again?"

"Leon."

"Right. Go and fetch the rack of beakers near the book shelves. Make sure your hands are sanitized first, I don't want a single skin cell being introduced into this experiment!" As Squall turned on his heels to get his chore over with, he heard Vexen begin to address Riku and his smirk returned. "And you, boy, put on a pair of gloves and help me prepare these samples." It did Squall's heart good to hear Riku getting bossed around. "By the way, I would like to get a sample of your DNA. You possess characteristics which would be very useful for one of my personal projects."

Even with his back turned Squall could feel the discomfort radiating off of Riku as the hitman grit his teeth, "No thanks…"

Grabbing the beaker rack, Squall couldn't decide whether he wanted to laugh or cringe from the disturbing atmosphere…This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sighing, Cloud raked his fingers through his hair as he settled back into an uncomfortably stiff chair. In front of him Roxas was devouring food from a Styrofoam container Axel had brought in for him like a starving wolf while Cloud and Axel looked on.

It had only been a little over twenty-four hours since Roxas had been brought in but he was already starting to look better. Well, his injuries looked the same but he seemed fully awake and lucid now and it was clear that his appetite had returned in full force.

Chuckling, Axel sat down at the foot of Roxas's hospital bed after making sure that the shorter blonde's legs weren't in the way. "Slow down, Rox, you're going to choke."

Struck with conflicting feelings of amusement and disgust Cloud just shook his head. "Seriously, at least chew your food before you swallow it."

Pausing inhaling his food just long enough to speak, Roxas met both of their comments with a soft glare. "No way. You wouldn't believe the kind of stuff they're trying to pass off as food here! You'd think a hospital would have, you know, good food, but it looks worse than the crap at my high school cafeteria."

Cloud shook his head again and reached up to rub at his eyes. Good god, he could feel the bags under his eyes. He should've expected that though, after having spent the last day and a bit awake and staring at papers or text on his computer screen.

After a few more bites of food, Roxas once again spoke up, his tone having softened considerably. "So…I'm guessing the case isn't going well?"

Axel gave the bedridden blonde a tight smile that just seemed to make the young cop more suspicious. "What gave you that idea?"

"You two look like zombies."

"Says the kid with half of his skin rubbed off."

Growling, Roxas planted a weak kick into Axel's side. "I'm trying to be serious! I want to know what's going on. I'm going crazy trapped in this room!"

As Roxas's eyes turned toward Cloud, the older Strife tilted his head to the side in acquiescence. "Let's just say that things have gotten a little more complicated now that our suspect's turned up dead."

Jumping into their conversation, Axel took over and steered the discussion away from an old argument he and Cloud had been having all day. "Basically, we're working on proving that he was the lowlife who did this to you. That's looking like it will be a pretty easy case to close though, since we have him and his car and all the evidence that comes with it."

"If it's such an open-and-closed case, what's got you both so worked up then?"

Cloud frowned as he rested his chin in his hand. "In our spare time we've been trying to piece this incident together with what happened over at Zexion's apartment. It's proven difficult to figure out who this guy really was, but it's becoming clear that he was definitely involved with the Organization, probably a recent hire looking at his records. We're hoping that looking up some information about our perp will tell us a little more about what the Organization is up too but there are a surprising number of road blocks in our way."

Sighing, Axel nodded. "I don't think it was even this secretive two years ago, the Organization must have upped their game. It doesn't exactly help that the situation's apparently escalating. First the Zexion thing, then you, then Leon—"

Roxas perked up, setting a now completely empty take-out out box on his side table. "What happened to Leon?"

Grabbing the container and tossing it into the trashcan behind him, Cloud explained. "Someone planted a pipe bomb at Leon's house. He managed to contain it before it went off but it could've been bad. I actually called the Traverse Town PD up about it and the detective who had been assigned the case said that it had been wrapped up like a package and was set on a timer to explode at a certain time. It was just dumb luck that Leon happened to step out at the right, or wrong, minute. Then again, what's really lucky is that Leon knew how to handle it."

Roxas swore lightly and his head tilted down to stare pensively at his covers. "Did the Traverse Town PD say anything else about it? Did they learn anything from the bomb?"

"They said they sent the pieces they collected into their lab. I requested that they put a rush on it so the results should be sent back in a week, week and a half. Theoretically, they might tell us something about where the bomb was manufactured, and hopefully who made it. Like I told Leon though, that's going to be too long to wait for that information to be really useful, especially if things really are escalating…"

Roxas's gaze drifted back up and he eyed Cloud with what could only be described as suspicion before turning toward Axel. "Hey Ax, could you do me a big favor?"

Smirking, Axel crossed his arms over his chest. "Depends. Your brother's here, so if it's something dirty you'll have to wait."

"You're such a pervert! I just wanted a soda! The nurse won't bring me any but I know for a fact that they sell them downstairs at the hospital cafeteria."

Releasing a dramatic sigh, Axel nevertheless rose to his feet. "What am I, your servant? Fine, I'll get you your soda, but all these little favors are adding up in my head. Once I get you home, I'm expecting some repayment, with interest."

Roxas made a face at the detective's retreating back causing Cloud to smile, speaking up softly as Axel slipped out into the hall. "He's still worried about you, you know…"

For a fleeting moment, Roxas smiled back. "Yeah…I know. But, while he's gone, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Raising a brow, Cloud carefully schooled his expression to be ready for whatever Roxas was about to throw at him. "Well, it must be serious if you got Axel out of the room first."

"Shut up, it is. You're worried about Leon, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Not what he had been expecting. "Why would you say that?"

Roxas never let his gaze leave Cloud as he settled back against the headboard. "You were trying to cover it up, but when you were talking I could tell that that bomb scare kind of freaked you out."

"What are you talking about, I—"

Scoffing, Roxas interrupted his older brother mid-sentence. "Oh, cut the crap, Cloud. It's okay that you're worried about the guy."

Cloud wasn't sure why, but his defenses shot up at Roxas's words. Gritting his teeth, he released his brother's stare to look at the wall instead. "I don't need to worry about him. He's fine and very capable of taking care of himself. Besides, the way I figure it he got himself involved with the Organization, so it's only fair that he has to deal with the consequences." It was the truth but it sounded a lot harsher out loud than it had in his head.

"So the fact that you like the guy has nothing to do at all with why you're working so hard all of a sudden?"

Snapping his chin up, Cloud gave Roxas a hard look. "I'm working hard on this case for you."

Roxas didn't so much as blink. "You were. But that's over now and you're still working in overdrive. So why haven't you let up a little?"

"Maybe you don't understand the exact implications of what's going on here. The Organization may be coming back. They've already tried to kill three people, one of which happens to be you, and I doubt they're going to stop there. Plus, if I don't get this thing figured out soon, you can bet that Leon, Riku, and Zexion will try to take over for me, and I don't want to have to deal with all the headaches that that would cause."

"But you're not denying that you like the guy?"

"Who?"

"Leon."

Stare hardening into a glare, Cloud scowled at Roxas, "I don't _like_ him."

"You do."

"He's an ex-mercenary and a felon, not to mention my parolee."

"And yet you still like him."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I _don't_."

Throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation, Roxas tugged at his tangled blonde spikes. "Oh my god, you're so annoying! You _do_ like him! You've been going to Leon's house every weekend for _two years_—how can you pretend you don't like him?"

It was moments like these that reminded Cloud how frustrating younger brothers could be. "I go over to his house because it's my job."

"But it's not! You aren't required to check up on him in person that often! You can't exactly say you just 'dropped by' since he lives two hours away! And it's not like I don't know you do more than just 'check up on him' anyway. I'm not dumb, Cloud, I know you're sleeping with Leon. So does Axel. You're just lucky the whole precinct hasn't figured it out yet!"

Ending his tirade, Roxas leaned forward to catch his breath. Cloud didn't speak, not trusting himself to open his mouth without yelling back, though some of his anger dissolved a bit as Roxas's face grew sad. "Have you seriously convinced yourself that you don't feel anything for him? Even with everything that's going on?"

The glint of heartbreak Cloud saw slip through Roxas's blue eyes undid the rest of his rage and he took a moment, just a moment, to honestly consider Roxas's question. It was something he had never bothered to stop and think about, something that he didn't want to have to think about. Exhaling slowly, Cloud looked at his feet as if hoping that the answer was lying on a piece of paper on the floor. "…Even if I am, attracted physically to Leon and occasionally act on that…it doesn't matter either way. I don't feel anything beyond the ordinary for him, and I can't. We're too…different."

Pursing his lips, Roxas's eyes scanned Cloud's face before he sighed, "I think the real problem is you're too similar."

Feeling frustration mounting in the back of his mind again, Cloud snapped back, "Anyway, it's not like I have any time to think about that now, not with everything with the Organization's starting back up. I have to think about more than one person right now and I'm not about to let myself become distracted by anything other than my work."

"Cloud—"

Roxas's irritated protest was cut off as the door to his hospital room opened and Axel came back inside, a can of soda held loosely in one hand. "Here you are, princess. One soda, as promised. I got your usual and it's even cold." Noticing that both blondes in the room were glaring at him, Axel froze halfway to the bed. "Did I interrupt something?"

Before Roxas could answer in the affirmative, or rip Axel's head off for calling him "princess", Cloud barked out a terse response. "No, we're done."

He didn't have to look over at his brother to know that Roxas was practically bristling. "Like hell we were—"

"We. Are. Done. It's about time we got back to the office anyway Axel, so say your goodnights and meet me down in the lobby."

Pushing himself up onto his feet, Cloud didn't wait for Axel's reply before stalking out of the room. He wasn't going to put up with any more of Roxas's insinuations. Not only that, but he recognized the fact, even in his rather heated state of mind, that Axel and Roxas probably wouldn't mind half a minute alone with the other before the detectives took off again.

Trying to force out all of the tension which had seeped into him over the last few minutes in a long sigh, Cloud dug his hands into his pants' pockets and made his way down the hall and toward the main lobby.

It had bothered him, what Roxas had said. More than it should have. He and Leon…it wasn't like they were dating. They weren't a couple. They were just…them. They felt something for each other, sure, but to say that it was anything close to love…that seemed to go too far.

Looking back at the last conversation he had had with Leon though caused a small twinge of guilt to shoot through Cloud. He had been having a rough night, or day, and he hadn't been in a good mood at the time. He still wasn't in a good mood, but that wasn't the point. What was the point was that even if he didn't _like_ Leon, he probably still should have expressed more of his concern when his parolee reported a bomb detonating on his front porch.

Fingering his cell phone, Cloud finally pulled the small device out of his pocket and ran his fingers over the screen, almost unconsciously pulling up Leon's number. He could call and apologize, but what would he really say? Sorry for being an ass this morning, I was cranky? It's not like Leon wouldn't have figured that one out on his own…

The fact that the desire to call Leon was still there, even after Cloud acknowledged that he had nothing to say to the man, surprised him. It had almost been a week since he had last seen Leon, and Cloud was pretty sure he had been right in thinking that he wasn't going to be able to make it out to Traverse Town this weekend. He had been so used to being around Leon every weekend that now that he wasn't he felt a little out of place.

A quick call would be nice, just to tell him what was going on with the case. Tell him about the problems they were having. On the other hand, he wasn't sure whether Leon was still mad at him and didn't want to risk riling the man up further. If he called, Leon would probably think that Cloud didn't trust him enough not to check in on him every day.

Maybe by not calling Cloud would be able to apologize, in a way. Maybe it would show that yes, he actually trusted Leon, which was the truth—mostly. He trusted that Leon would do what he thought was right and necessary…And that is what scared him the most.

* * *

It took a good six hours to finish the work in Vexen's lab and by the time that they and their results were released, the eastern skyline was just beginning to pale. Swearing under his breath Squall did the math in his head. By the time they got back to Traverse Town, he would have a whole two hours before he needed to turn right back around and head out for work at Cid's place. Maybe he would take advantage of the drive and take a nap after all. He didn't need the sleep—he would be able to work the whole day without his performance really suffering for it, thanks to his training—but he might as well try to take what he could get.

Climbing into the back of the van, he waited for Riku to join him as Zexion leaned in beside him to slip some items into the back. Squall didn't ask what they were and instead focused on where would be the best place for him to sit if he wanted to get a few hours of sleep in. Riku, who had been thoroughly creeped out that night, just raised a brow and jumped up to sit across from Squall.

Once they had gotten settled Zexion lightly cleared his throat. "So, now that we know everything that we can possibly know about who made the pipe bomb and where it was made, are we willing to act on it?"

Riku scowled. "Can this conversation be saved for later? We've already put in our overtime for today."

"No, I want a reply from each of you right now, before I proceed any further. So I will ask you each again; Riku, are you willing to act on our information?"

Stifling a yawn behind one hand, Riku frowned back. "Aren't I always?"

"Very true. What about you, Leon?"

Rolling his neck to try to work out some of the tension in his muscles, Squall remained silent for a minute before letting out a breath. "What exactly would 'acting on our information' entail?"

Zexion took a seat on the van's back bumper. "I think it should be very clear. While I know that the police are working on solving this matter, judging by their previous ventures their success in the matter is questionable at best. In addition, I have never been one to simply sit back and allow others to take care of my problems."

Squall felt the same way but he knew that he was treading on thin ice. "You didn't exactly answer my question. What are you thinking about doing?"

"I am thinking of nipping this irritation in the bud before it grows out of control. The Organization—whether or not the main group has been directly affiliated with these attacks—is obviously out for our blood. Now that we have a lead of our own, I think that we should follow it."

The tests Vexen had run on the pipe bomb residence had produced more information than Squall would have thought possible. From the tiny scraps he had collected from his front yard, Vexen had been able to narrow down the possible makers to a short list of names. It had only taken five minutes, once Zexion had gained access to the police databanks, to cross-reference the list with anyone who was in any way involved with the Organization and their list had been reduced to a single name. After a short minute of obsessive searching, Vexen had finally found a partial palm print that confirmed their suspicions. The man whose name they got, some John Bedford-something-or-another, looked like a fairly ordinary entry-level peon who might as well now have a big red target painted on his back.

Squall knew how easy it would be for them to just finish it; he, Riku, or Zexion could all single-handedly make this man permanently disappear. But he also knew Zexion for one wouldn't be satisfied with such a result…He wasn't sure he would be either.

Frowning, Squall rubbed a hand over his face. "Maybe we should just call Cloud and let him know that—"

"That what?" Zexion interrupted, his voice deceptively calm. "That we know who planted the bomb? And how would you explain that? Would you tell him that you took evidence from a crime scene?"

Squall's frown deepened. "No." Cloud would probably put him in jail for tampering with a crime scene and obstructing justice if he said anything like that.

Straightening up, Zexion tucked his hands behind his back. "Even if we told the police and they did not reprimand us for running our own tests without their knowledge, what would they be able to do with that information? They could watch the guy who made the bomb, put him under surveillance and gather evidence to arrest him. And then a month, maybe two months later they might have enough evidence to get a warrant to search his house. Those are not the results I am looking for. Luckily, the three of us have the ability to see for ourselves that things are straightened out."

Scoffing, Riku glared sleepily at Zexion. "Look, you obviously already have a plan in mind, so just spit it out so we can hit the road."

Letting out a small huff, Zexion's lips tightened before he gave a curt nod. "Fine. I will skip to the chase. Although taking care of the man who left the bomb would be somewhat satisfying, I am proposing that we use him to break into the Organization's main ranks and remind them that they ought not to trifle with us. Even though we have not been active for two years either, they are sorely mistaken to think that we are so out of practice that we will take their abuse lying down."

As much as he hated it, Squall couldn't deny that a small spark of excitement lit in his chest as Zexion spoke. He had always been a man of action and Zexion's words hit home. The idea of proving their point with a bit of force sounded dangerously appealing even as he tried to beat his reaction down with his common sense. He had just finally gotten settled in to a normal life. After everything that happened—Sora getting sick, nearly getting killed last time he, Zexion, and Riku had worked together, serving with SeeD—he had finally just begun to grasp the safe, quiet life he had been searching for for years. He was finally just getting Cloud to warm up to him, although it was hard to tell with the way Cloud had acted this morning.

Knowing that he shouldn't ask any more about it, that he should just say he wasn't interested and turn his head, the words slipped out of Squall's mouth anyway. "How would you use the guy to break into the main group?"

Zexion's lips just barely turned up at the corner, the violet-haired schemer knowing then that he had the soldier hooked. "When I was looking up his information via the police database, I noticed something peculiar about his listed 'home address'."

"I caught that too." Squall's head swung back to look at Riku. "The idiot practically gave himself away. The address he listed might have been in Twilight Town, but even I know that the street he wrote down is notorious underground for being the spot where the Organization runs its local business, though no body knows, or will tell, where the actual building is."

Squall's eyes narrowed as he tried to work out Zexion's plan in his head. "So you're thinking that he lives nearby an Organization hot spot?"

"I do not just think that he lives nearby, I think that he frequents their headquarters. He would have few other reasons for living so close. What I am proposing is that we follow the man then meet him inside and make our point clear."

Riku grinned, undoubtedly imagining the plan's ensuing blood-bath. "Like leading a lamb to the slaughter…"

Squall tried to block it out by closing his eyes. He couldn't do this. Not know that things were starting to work out. He had to think about Sora. He should think about Cloud.

Blinking his eyes back open, he found Zexion's analyzing gaze peering at him and suddenly felt exposed. "I know what you are thinking, Leon. You are conflicted, about whether you want to join or not. Just think of it this way, as I do; if we end this now, we will no longer have to worry about anyone around us getting hurt." From the flash in Zexion's visible eye, Squall knew that the other man wasn't thinking about Sora, or Cloud, but of his own loved ones, or loved one. "There is no one better for the job than us and it must be done, soon. Hitting the Organization while it is still crippled in its efforts to reestablish itself will surely make our point all the more strong and if they have a brain among them they will know that we mean to be left alone. Think of this as our…last hurrah."

That's right. He would never be able to really live comfortably as long as the threat of the Organization was breathing down his neck. Zexion was right; if they acted now and leveled one swift blow to show they meant business, all of this might be over. He could give up any more illegal activity, shut it away completely, and live the absolutely-legal life that he wanted. And if they played their cards right, Cloud would never have to know about any of this. "Alright, I'm in."

"Perfect. We will meet again then Monday night to settle our plans and make our move sometime next week, before they have the chance to try to kill one of us again."


	5. Chapter 5

Hey dudes! The next chapter is (finally) out! Whooo! I hope everyone had an awesome May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, etc! Extra huge thanks go out to everyone who reviewed: ramen-is-my-goddess, RealityInABottle, MiaHarpy, Clockwork Phoenix, RkM4U, nearcreature, YumiStar, Shinimegami7, xHanako, DirtyZephyrAssassin, chibi heishi, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, kestrel26, Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, SlippingSanity, ChaosGarden, Anonymous, Nekotsubasa, Dragi, Tsubasa-Faye, , ooXloveXoo582, Aindel S. Druida, xacilia, and Bane-Dane, especially since I know we've probably all been busy these last few days! Now, without any further ado, onto the chapter! ^_^

O

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

_A familiar sickening weight settled into his bones and he knew what was coming. Squall knew what was coming just as much as he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop it._

_A harsh beam of light, the feel of running through sand in full battle gear, every extra pound feeling like a lead brick. He was covered head to toe in sweat, could feel his hair sticking to his face underneath his helmet, could feel drops rolling down his spine, could feel it gathering in his boots. His breath was coming out in short, desperate pants as his outstretched hands gripped his rifle hard as he sprinted forward. _

_The buildings looming around him were the same, dirty, weather-beaten clay walls full of fresh bullet holes, still smoking and stained with gunpowder. As the structures gave way to the courtyard, Squall's eyes widened, catching sight of the soldier limping toward him. This time, the man's helmet was off. He could see blood dripping down from a cut along his hairline though golden strands of hair nearly obscured the wound. Pained blue eyes stared back at him and it took Squall less than a second to have his heart feel as if it had fallen into the puddle of sweat in his boots. _

_It was Cloud._

_Cloud was running towards him, wounded, and he had never felt such panic in his life. He opened his mouth to scream a warning but no words came out, tried to wave his arms but they couldn't let go of his gun. The bomb lying between them, a pipe bomb this time, wrapped up in brown cardboard, was clearly visible, why wasn't Cloud stopping? _

_Putting everything he had into his legs, he willed himself to run faster, harder, praying to whoever would listen to tell Cloud to stop. But none of it mattered. Despite how hard he had tried, Cloud, wounded as badly as he was, somehow ran faster. And Squall couldn't tear his eyes away as his foot stepped down on top of the box. _

_In an instant, a burst of flame and metal erupted from where the blonde had just been standing and Squall was thrown back off of his feet, not even having the chance to scream before a twisted shard of steel shot out from the inferno and flew straight at his head. It crashed through his helmet as if it had been made of paper, and embedded itself right in between his eyes—_

Lunging back, Squall fell before suddenly slamming down onto a hard surface, all of the wind knocked from his lungs. Wild-eyed, he reached up to his face, a small gasp escaping him not only when did he not find a helmet, but the only thing Squall's fingertips found was the change in texture of his skin where his scar cut across the bridge of his nose. Why wasn't he bleeding? Why…why was it dark outside?

Squall left his hand resting on his face as his pulse slowly began to ease down to a healthy level. As his eyes fluttered shut he focused on pulling in deep breaths of air as he lay on the floor of his bedroom, the blankets pooled around him from when he had tumbled off of the mattress.

Just another damn nightmare…It figured that he'd have one now…

Squall, Zexion, and Riku had all met up at their headquarters in Traverse Town Monday night just as Zexion had requested and met there again the next night as well. While the job was a little difficult to plan for based on the fact that none of them really knew exactly what to expect, the generic plan they developed took less time than usual. Without all of the small details to plan out, they could only make a rough outline of how the night would go down. Between the three of them they had a whole lot of experience with setting up raids and killing people so they all knew the basics of what would need to happen.

They had strategically set the date of the event to be Thursday night for two reasons. One, Cid had already told Squall that he had to take Friday off in order to drive down to Hallow Bastion for some specialized spare parts so Squall already had the day off without having to make up some suspicious excuse. Two, Zexion had diligently checked up on the Twilight Town Police's patrol schedule and found that on Thursday nights there weren't scheduled to be any officers in their target neighborhood.

And today was Thursday morning.

With a grunt, Squall pushed himself up off of the floor enough to check the clock on his bedside table. 5:12 am. No wonder it was still dark outside. His movements made him realize that he was covered in a cold sweat so, instead of crawling back into bed for a few more minutes of sleep, Squall figured that a long shower would be more worth his time. He still had work today after all and he had until seven before he needed to meet Zexion and Riku at headquarters.

Robotically going through his morning routine, save for the extended shower time, Squall was out the door before Sora even woke up. He was a little early for work but wasn't surprised to find Cid already at the shop getting everything ready for any customers that might choose to hazard a visit. And, just as he had expected, the day passed by in a blur, Squall hardly believing it when he looked up at the clock and saw that it was quitting time. The ride home and preparing for dinner flew by much in the same way and by the time Squall and Sora were cleaning up after their meal, the smaller brunette knew something was up.

"Hey Squall?"

"Hm?"

Sora frowned curiously, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Figuring now was as good a time as ever to mention his departure, Squall put his plate in the dishwasher and straightened up, "But I'm going to have to go out tonight."

"Again? But you went out all the start of this week too."

"Yeah."

His lack of explanation didn't seem to sit too well with his little brother. Sora's frown deepened and he put his hands on his hips, "You promised me you'd tell me when something was going on! So tell me!"

Turning his head with a huff, Squall met Sora's gaze. As their eyes met Squall knew that Sora was just too suspicious to be satisfied with anything less than a partial truth. "You won't want to know."

A strange, determined gleam entered Sora's blue eyes and tilted his chin up, looking confident though the slight shaking in his voice gave away his nervousness, "Probably not. But I don't want to be kept in the dark anymore. Are you, are you going out to do something illegal?" Squall remained silent, not quite sure how to respond. "Please, just tell me. I promise I won't call Cloud or anything, I just have to know! Are you going out to do something illegal?"

"…Yeah."

Sora swallowed, momentarily looking shocked that he had actually gotten an answer. But what was Squall supposed to do? He owed Sora that much at least. "You are?"

"It's not…" Leaning back against the counter, Squall ran his fingers through his hair. It was starting to grow out again, nearly to the length it was when Seifer had demanded he cut it when he returned to SeeD, "It's not something permanent. This is the last time. And it has to be done. After this, we get to live a quiet life, no more crime, no more nothing."

"Is this about that bomb?"

"Partly."

"…Will it be dangerous?"

Now Squall wanted to lie but he knew Sora wouldn't forgive him if something actually happened, "Probably."

Sora bit his lip before a red flush spread over his cheeks and he closed his eyes, his shoulder's scrunching up as if he were bracing himself, "Is Riku going too?"

Any other thought that was darting through Squall's mind disappeared in that second and all of his attention zeroed in on his brother, "What was that?"

"I, I asked if Riku was going too."

If Squall were in a better frame of mind, he might have commended Sora for his bravery. Right now though he wasn't likely to be so generous. "Why would you ask about him?"

"Because…I'm worried about him." Sora seemed to deflate a little with his admission, "Recently he's just been acting different and—"

Sora's voice cut off but it was too late to retract his little slip of the tongue and they both knew it, "He _has_ been coming over then."

It wasn't a question so much as it was a statement but Sora nodded anyway before his chin snapped up, "But he hasn't done anything bad, I promise! I know you don't like him much, that's why he doesn't come over when you're here, because he doesn't want to make you mad!"

Eyes narrowed, Squall reached back to grip tightly at the counter, his voice lowered to a growl, "He told you that, did he?"

"He did! And he meant it, I could tell! He's been really nice." There was almost a hint of relief in Sora's expression now that the secret was out, "Anyway, you both started acting funny around the same time so I figured it must have something to do with illegal stuff and now neither of you will tell me anything! Are you both really going out tonight?"

"Yeah, Riku's coming too. Although I can't guarantee that he'll make it back in one piece…" Looking up, Squall caught a glimpse of the clock on the microwave. 6:35pm. He had to cut his interrogation short. "I have to go, and I don't think I'll be back tonight, probably sometime early in the morning. Keep the doors locked, the blinds closed, and go to bed on time. If something happens, call…call my boss Cid." There was no one else Squall knew in town and Cid would do in a pinch.

"Wait! Do you have to go out? Isn't this something you could reconsider?"

"No."

Sora opened his mouth then hesitated before trying again as he watched Squall gather up his things and head for the front door, "Then just, be careful, alright? _Please_ don't let anything bad happen!"

No matter how angry he was, the teen's desperate plea still cut a hairline fracture though his heart. "…I'll try."

Sora's face relaxed just a fraction when Squall's tone softened and, before Squall could even reach out for the door handle, the shorter brunette had his arms around Squall's chest and was giving him a tight hug, "I guess I can't really stop you…" Frozen in surprise, Squall finally processed the gesture and tentatively hugged Sora back, resting his chin on his brother's spiked hair.

It didn't seem right that he should worry his brother this much.

After a long moment, Squall pulled away from the embrace and ruffled Sora's hair to try and show there were no hard feelings. Between him and Sora anyway. "I have to go now. But I'll try to get back before you even wake up, alright?"

Nodding weakly, Sora stepped back and allowed Squall to open the door, "…Okay."

OoOoOo

About an hour and a half later, Squall found himself sitting in the back of Zexion's van next to Riku again more than halfway to Twilight Town. Through sheer force of will and out of consideration for Sora, Squall had resisted smashing Riku's face in when he saw the silver-haired hitman. Squall probably shouldn't have still been this mad at Riku; after all, he had learned of the younger man's visits a while ago. But having Sora actually admit to spending time with the other behind his back had reopened the wound. Riku's nonchalant attitude that night was the salt being rubbed into it.

A small bump rattled the equipment stacked up around them and Squall reached up to keep Zexion's laptop from falling on him. Before they had left Traverse Town, Zexion had the van stocked up with everything that they would possibly need for tonight, from his laptop, to safe-cracking kit, to grappling hooks and other mountain climbing gear. Riku had seemed to think along the same lines and showed up carrying no less than eight different kinds of guns ranging from one so small that he could fit it up the sleeve of his shirt to a sniper rifle that he looked much too comfortable holding. For his part, Squall had brought his SeeD issue handgun and a load of ammo, not knowing how many rounds he was going to have to fire off. All three of them were dressed for the part too, all black cloth and leather, gloves on their hands to hide their fingerprints and Squall and Riku's hair tied back to reduce the possibility of loose strands of DNA falling onto any crime scenes.

Without any windows to look out of and his drifting attention, Squall didn't know where they were until the van pulled to a stop and Zexion opened up the back doors. Riku sat up and stretched, "Where'd you park us?"

"Around the corner from our victim's address. Sunset looks as if it is just ending so we should have just enough time to find a good location to stake-out and watch for his movements."

The word "victim" was like acid in Squall's mind but he brushed the thought away. Their mark wasn't an innocent man—he was the person who made the bomb that could have very well killed him. Scooting toward the open door, Squall slid down to sit on the bumper, "Explain to me again how you know that this guy will go to the local Organization headquarters tonight?"

Zexion looked down at him as Riku began to gather up some supplies behind him, "I cannot, of course, be completely sure of it, but I have a strong suspicion that he will. He is undoubtedly concerned about being discovered as the manufacturer of the pipe bomb, either by the police or by us, and will thus be seeking refuge. People like him are highly predictable and very easy to understand. Having little capacity to think of a good exit strategy from all of this himself, he is probably going to the Organization every day and night to ask for their help or to see if they have made progress on whatever sort of help they have already promised him."

Squall raised a brow, "So you're betting this whole night on the theory that this guy is a stupid coward?"

"Precisely. Judging from his choice in attacks and the expertise with which he created the bomb, such an idea is not so far-fetched."

Squall still wasn't sure about Zexion's ability to psychoanalyze Organization grunts but decided it would be best not to voice his opinions. Instead he let himself assume that Zexion would be right and that their target—somehow "target" sounded much better than "victim"—would lead them to the Organization's local stronghold tonight. "Alright, so are we going to take the van with us, or walk out?"

As he tried to ignore Riku as he sat down next to him, Squall watched as Zexion thought it over for a moment, "It is a good question…But luckily we have the advantage of being a multi-person team. You and Riku can go out and keep an eye on things while on foot and I will remain in the van and move it to the proper location—once we discover where that is."

Riku smirked and dug something out of the small bag he had packed up, "I guess we'll be needing these then." He pulled his hand back to reveal three familiar headsets. "Ours were a little dusty, but the batteries still look good."

"Excellent." Accepting his, Zexion slipped it on over his head, hiding the mouthpiece under the bangs that covered half of his face, "Let me know when you catch sight of him on the move and I will follow at a distance with the van."

Taking the second headset, Squall slipped his on his own head and switched the power on, "Got it. Let's get this over with."

As Riku switched his headset on, Squall heard his scoff through the air and through the soft crackle of static, "Jeez, Leon, could you sounds any more unexcited?"

Squall narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man, "Some people don't find the prospect of hunting down and killing others exciting."

"Yeah, and we all know you aren't one of those people."

Zexion cut Squall off before he could reply, "That is enough. I am not quite sure what is going on between you two as of late, although I could probably guess, but tonight I want you to put whatever it is aside. Bickering is not allowed on stake-outs."

Squall knew Zexion was right, though for slightly different reasons. He hated Riku with a passion right now but he knew that their success tonight—and their survival—could quite possibly depend on his and Riku's ability to function together. As long as they both agreed to be professional they would be able to avoid any unnecessary problems. He and Riku could go back to verbally, and perhaps physically, tearing each other part tomorrow. Reluctantly raising his eyes to meet Riku's, Squall was almost surprised to see similar intentions in the other's gaze. Riku's occasional bouts of maturity always surprised him…though they didn't make him like Riku any better.

Turning his head to look back at Zexion, Squall gave a small nod as he stood, "We both know how to act on a job."

"Good. See that you practice that knowledge."

Pushing himself up, Riku shot Zexion and annoyed scowl, "Hey, you just take care of your end of things and let us worry about taking care of ours. Come on, Leon, let's get set up."

Zexion let them go without another remark and climbed into the cab of the van, seemingly satisfied that they would act like mature adults now. Meanwhile, Squall and Riku began to head down the block, trying to look as inconspicuous and innocent as any two men could while dressed mostly in black and carrying a duffle bag. If this really was a neighborhood controlled by the Organization the sight couldn't have been too unusual, but Squall still kept his eyes open, watching for someone peering out their window while calling the police about the strangers lurking in the shadows.

After walking about fifty feet, Riku glanced up at the address on the house and gave a short nod, muttering to Squall under his breath, "Well, this is the place."

Casually looking up at the residence Squall took in its generally unkempt appearance. Paint was peeling off of the side of the weather-beaten apartment building, the boards covering one of ground-floor windows not disguising the fact that the window pane had been smashed in. It looked like a place where a two-bit criminal lived.

Moving his gaze to the buildings surroundings, Squall noted that there was a small alleyway across the street. The nearest streetlight had gone out so it would be easy to hide there without being noticed. Without speaking, Squall motioned toward the spot with his head and Riku instantly understood and followed the brunette to their new hiding spot.

Once they were crouched down, Squall spoke softly into his headset, "Alright Zexion, we've found a good position to watch the house from."

"—_Good. Let me know as soon as you see any sign of him coming out of the building—_"

"Understood." Squall glanced over to the side as he heard a rustling only to find Riku digging through the bag he had brought along. Sifting through the contents, Squall identified the butt of a rifle as Riku began to pull it out, "And what are you doing?"

Blowing a strand of silver hair from his face, Riku rolled his eyes, "Relax; I'm not gonna shoot the guy. Yet." He fiddled around with the gun still half-hidden in the duffle bag before he pulled out a small black cylinder—it was hard to identify in the dark. Noticing Squall's curious expression, Riku waved the object around, "The night-vision scope from my sniper rifle."

Squall let out a small grunt of recognition and turned his attention back towards the run-down apartment building as Riku lifted the scope up to his eyes. There was a moment of silence before Riku spoke up, his tone muted, "Most of the blinds are closed…but…I can definitely see some movement in the upper right window…looks like a living room or a kitchen." Lowering the scope, Riku's lips curled up into a dangerous grin, "Looks like he's home though."

That was good news at least. Squall didn't want to imagine if they had driven all the way out to Twilight Town only to find that their mark decided to spend the night out on the town. "Now we just wait for him to make his move…"

Luckily for their time-table, and Squall's sanity, they didn't have to wait too long. Sure, Squall was used to stake-out missions from SeeD where he had to crouch down behind a sand-dune for hours, but it was an entirely different thing when he had to deal with Riku being less than a foot away from him. It was true that Riku had behaved himself but with the other man so close Squall couldn't help but think about what he might have done to Sora while he was alone with him, making his blood boil. He had to repress a sigh of relief as Riku, once again staring through his scope, announced that it looked like their target was leaving.

They both pressed themselves against the wall of the alleyway and watched out of the corner of their eyes as a man wearing a baggy hooded sweatshirt, the hood drawn up to obscure his face, emerged from the main door of the apartments. Squall wasn't sure if it was the right guy until the figure stopped and scanned the surrounding street like an animal being hunted before tentatively stepping out onto the sidewalk and shoved his hands into his pockets as he set off at a brisk pace down the street. Glancing over to his left he caught Riku smirking again as he slid his scope back into his bag and knew that it was time to get down to business.

"Target's moving, coming your way."

"—_Alright. The two of you follow on foot and keep me informed as to his destination so that I may follow at a distance—_"

With a quick nod from Riku to show that he was ready, Squall slipped around the corner with Riku hot on his heels. They followed at a distance, not wanting to alert the man of their presence, but close enough so that he wouldn't be able to lose them if he turned down a side-street. However, for all the paranoia the man showed when he left his house, he never once stopped to check directly behind him, his gaze constantly skittering from side to side. Zexion had been right again—they weren't dealing with the sharpest tool in the shed.

After about ten minutes of walking, the man suddenly made a sharp turn to his right and climbed the short flight of stairs up to the door of what appeared to be a vacated health clinic. Waiting a second to see if the man actually got in, Squall and Riku watched silently as the man fiddled with the door handle before sneaking inside, the front door closing behind him with a soft bang. Immediately Squall pressed a hand to his headset, holding it close to his mouth so he could whisper, "He just went into a building. We're just down the street from you, the address is seven-twenty-three."

"—_We may have found our place then. Is there anywhere nearby where I can park the van?—_"

It was Riku who answered this time, his sharp teal eyes scanning the area, "Nowhere great, but you'll be able to make do somewhere."

"—_Make do. Excellent. You always know how to put me at ease. I will be there momentarily. Watch the building to make sure he does not leave—_"

Squall waited impatiently for the van to come around the corner as Riku's gaze lingered on the abandoned clinic's front door. What he really wanted to do was walk the perimeter of the building to check how many different doors and windows could serve as an exit route, but he knew that would probably immediately alert anyone inside that they were up to trouble.

Before he could open his mouth to complain, his eyes, having adjusted to the low light, caught sight of a large black shape coming around the corner. It was Zexion; he had left the headlights off in order to blend into the shadows. With one last look to make sure that no one was sneaking back out, Squall made eye contact with Riku before hurrying over to where Zexion was hiding the van behind a dumpster about twenty feet away from them.

While Riku stayed put, Squall walked around to the back of the van. Zexion was already there, the van doors swung open wide as he pulled together all the gear Squall and Riku would need. Acknowledging his presence with a small nod, Zexion barely looked at him as he shoved a small bag into Squall's arms, "When I passed by the building you had indicated our target went inside, I determined that the climbing gear I brought would not be required. It is only two stories tall after all; if escape from a window proves necessary, you should both survive such a jump with little trouble."

Good. One less thing to carry around with them. "That's fine. What's in the bag, then?"

"It seems as if Riku has already grabbed all of his weapons so I simply packed lock-picking tools, a device that can short out electrical locks, and lastly a small wireless camera that when turned on transmits directly to my laptop computer. If I learned one thing from two years ago it is never to depend on you or Riku to accurately relate a tech problem to me." Squall would've been insulted if he hadn't known it was true. "I also included an ammonia mixture in a small spray bottle and bandages. If, gods forbid, it should happen that you or Riku get yourselves injured, immediately bind the wound and spray any blood spots or spatter or whatever in order to destroy any DNA you left behind."

Squall didn't like Zexion's assumption that either of them was going to get hurt. "Whatever." Zexion seemed to take the dismissal as an agreement and climbed up into the back of the van. "Are you going to stay in here?"

"Yes. I will monitor the situation from here in order to assist you with any problems you may encounter."

It was probably for the best. The last—and only—time Zexion had accompanied them he'd ended up with a broken leg. "Alright. See you later then."

"Hopefully. Keep your wits about you and keep in touch."

Squall gave a firm nod. Shouldering the bag, he quietly closed up the back of the van to hide its interior from prying eyes before hurrying back over to Riku. The younger man glanced back over his shoulder as Squall joined him with an annoyed glare, "Finally. What the hell took you so long?"

Glaring right back, Squall motioned toward the bag on his arm, "Zexion put together a few last minute supplies."

"He's such a mother hen. All we need is right here." Squall snorted as Riku patted his own duffle stuffed full of firearms.

"Speaking of that, do we have an actual plan now or what?"

"Sure. Go in and start shooting things up."

"And here I was thinking that we'd be going in blind."

Riku's glare melted into a smug grin as he began to lead them to the front door of the building, "Leave the sarcasm to me, Leon. It doesn't work as well for you."

Bristling, Squall forced his attention on the door they were quickly approaching. He had to mentally prepare himself for whatever lay beyond it. After all, he hadn't killed anyone in two years. He was sure that the skills were still there, it was just allowing himself to put them to good—or not so good—use. Either way, he wasn't a fan of Riku's non-plan. "How about we see how long we can get away with not shooting?"

Riku scoffed as he climbed the three steps up to the entryway, "You take all the fun out of life."

"Good."

Reaching the door, both men paused for a second to pull out their respective handguns. Squall knew Riku would've preferred using his rifle but inside the building they were more likely to be fighting close-quarters. Taking a breath, Squall met Riku's eyes for less than half a second as they stood, face to face, with their shoulders against the door. Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Riku's grin spread into a full-on smirk, "You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Let's go."

Riku didn't give Squall a moment to think about anything, which was probably for the best. As soon as he had finished speaking, the silver-haired man was shoving the door open and they ran inside.

Heart pounding, Squall kept his gun raised as he looked left than right. There were no signs of life in what seemed to be the front room of a clinic. It was just a front though—it was clear that although it was designed to look like a neglected store there had been people here recently. There were empty shelves, old boxes full of gods know what stacked up in the corner, but there wasn't a bit of dust anywhere and the air didn't smell stale at all. The tiled floor and white walls were aged but still seemed to be structurally maintained and it didn't look like the windows had been covered up because they were broken.

As Squall checked around all of the counters, Riku peeked down a hallway that would've led into the back of the store. Whispering into his headset instead of speaking across the room, he nodded down the corridor as he caught Squall's attention, "—_Hey, this way_—"

Moving as quietly as he could, Squall met Riku before the other continued deeper into the derelict shop. There were no other doors leading off of the front room so this must have been the way that their target had passed through.

They quickly reached another door but before Riku could push it open Squall threw out his arm. There was a small streak of light shining out from underneath the bottom of the door and the subtle shadows flickering through it warned that there was someone standing right on the other side. Riku quickly caught onto the problem but his reaction didn't exactly match Squall's as he broke into a grin.

Squall had almost forgotten how much Riku enjoyed murdering people.

Warning with his eyes not to go overboard, Squall put his hand on the doorknob and in one smooth movement he ripped the door open. Having seen the shadows shifting around, he had anticipated the guard standing less than a foot away. Squall didn't wait for Riku to announce their presence to the entire building with a gunshot; without skipping a beat, he grabbed the surprised guard from behind and snapped his neck before the man could even scream.

"You bastard, that one was mine!"

Lowering the dead man to the ground, Squall glared up at him and whispered, "Keep it down!"

"Why? There's no one else here!" Despite Riku's protests, he did lower his voice back to a murmur.

Straightening back up, Squall took a look around the new room they were in—a wider hall with multiple doors attached to it—and noticed that Riku was right when he said that there was no one else there. And now that he mentioned it, the fact surprised Squall. This was just a branch office for the Organization but it still seemed like there should've been more guards posted at the doors or wandering around. The time when they had broken into the Organization's tower in Dark City the place had been swarming with guards. It seemed like there had been someone posted around every corner, making the Organization seem cautious, if not paranoid. But now they might as well have rolled out the red carpet for them for all the security they had in place.

On edge with his gun still out, Squall slunk down the hall and checked each door. None of them had a key pad or an alarm or even a mechanical lock. "Something funny's going on…"

Zexion's voice crackled back over the line, "—_What is it?—_"

Before Squall could reply, Riku was answering as he walked down towards Squall, "—_There's practically no one here and their security is so shitty it's ridiculous_—"

"—_Hm…it may just be a front. Do not let your guard down_—"

Squall nodded into the microphone, "Right. Riku..." Waving the hitman towards one of the doors on the right, Squall went to one on the left side of the hall. He swung the door open only to reveal what looked to be a janitor's closet.

Frowning, Squall pulled the door shut again and moved onto the next. From the muttered curse that escaped Riku, it seemed like the other man had found the same sort of dead-end space that he had. Pausing at the second door down the hall, Squall listened carefully for any kind of movement before opening it wide open, once again finding nothing except an empty office space. This was definitely weird. This had to be the place: not only did they see their target come inside, but also the single guard that had been posted at the door indicated that someone was trying to hide something in the building.

Fighting back the urge to slam the door shut out of frustration, Squall's spirits lifted slightly as from behind he heard Riku let out a small noise of excitement. "Hey, I think I might've found what we're looking for."

Squall spun around and was immediately at Riku's side and followed the assassin inside as he stepped into the room he had opened up. This room, like the one Squall had just found, appeared at first glance to be an empty office space but under a closer inspection Squall caught what had attracted Riku's attention. Near the back corner of the room, the tiled floor had a black scuff mark radiating out from the baseboard in a semi-circular pattern. To the untrained eye it might have looked like the flooring had simply been damaged while someone was moving a large piece of furniture but the way it had formed showed that it was much more than that.

Reaching out, Riku began knocking softly on the far wall and, sure enough, the pitch of his knock changed markedly as he tested the wall above the skid mark. There was a hidden door in the wall.

As adrenaline began pumping fresh through his veins, Squall hurried forward next to Riku and between the two of them they quickly found the nearly invisible cut separating the real wall from the hidden door. The cut though was so thin that there would be no way to pry the door open with the tools they had with them. Growling under his breath, Squall ran his fingertips over the razor-thin incision in the wall, "There has to be a way to get inside…"

"Tch, probably a lever or something around here…and I bet I know where…" Raising his head, Squall watched as Riku slid over to a breaker box. Flipping the metal cover off he leaned in to examine the different switches inside. "One of these circuit breakers probably opens up the door…"

"Let me look." Shouldering the slighter man aside, much to Riku's annoyance, Squall quickly took charge. He might not be able to understand microchips, but he was definitely familiar with more large scale electronics. Scanning the dozen or so different switches, most of which were unlabeled, he began to scan the numbers on the toggle switches which should describe the amount of electrical amps that could flow through the switch before it tripped off and shut off the current. Mainly they seemed the type that would control average electronic devices but one in particular stood out from all the others as controlling something that required a huge amount of electricity. "I think this switch controls the door."

"Then flip it already and let's see what happens!"

Squall glared over at Riku who was standing right in front of the door, "I will as soon as you get out of the way." On second thought, maybe he shouldn't have said anything. It was too late to retract his comment though and the other man scooted to his right, just out of range of the door. Squall let out a grudging sigh before turning to face the circuit breaker again, "Here goes nothing…"

As soon as he toggled the switch Squall knew that he had chosen correctly. A low hum filled the room and Riku took another step away from the wall as the hidden door dislodged itself from its frame with a rumbling shudder. As the heavy panel opened it revealed, inch by inch, an ill-lit flight of concrete stairs descending into a darkened room.

Suddenly, the door gave another lurch, the humming noise rising to a quick roar of machinery before it went dead silent and the door froze. It had only opened about half a foot, definitely not big enough of a space for either of them to fit through. And, judging from the sounds it had made, the mechanism for opening the hidden door had just given out.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

The whispered curses that flew from Riku's mouth were similar to the cuss words echoing around in Squall's own mind. This door was obviously the key to uncovering the Organization's hide-away and he wasn't about to let something as stupid as a stalled cog get in his way. Stepping forward, Squall grabbed hold of the edge of the door and pulled, his teeth clenching as his muscles strained from the effort. It really was locked up. Even when he threw his whole weight into it, the door only budged about half an inch. It didn't help that he just couldn't gain any kind of traction on the floor, his boots sliding across the tile as he tried to brace himself against it.

Riku must have seen that he was having trouble with it because seconds later a second pair of hands latched on to the edge of the door just below his. They both pulled this time but even with their combined strength they only got another inch of movement. Scowling, Riku released his grip, "This isn't working! It'll take us an hour to open the door enough to squeeze through at this rate."

"We'll definitely be found by then."

"Damn it." Riku made to kick at the door but stopped himself just before the toe of his boot made contact, probably realizing that it would've caused too much noise. "Zex, we could use some help here!"

Squall's brow rose before he shook his head, "If we couldn't get this open, I doubt one more pair of hands is really going to help." Especially if that extra pair of hands was Zexion's. Squall had a huge respect for the man but Zexion wasn't the most…athletic people in the world.

Even though the thought when unsaid, Squall knew that Zexion had interpreted his meaning well enough as his voice filtered through the headsets, "—_Despite your obvious distrust in my abilities, if I understand the situation correctly, I will actually be able to assist you. The door you are trying to open is stuck?—_"

"Pretty much."

"—_I have a tool with me that I think will help—_"

Exhaling, Squall stared at the door for a second longer before nodding and muttering into his microphone, "Alright. You'll have to bring it to us though, I don't think either of us should be left here alone while the other runs out to the van."

"—_Agreed. I will be there momentarily—_"

When the transmission ended Squall and Riku were left with nothing to do but wait, the tension mounting each second that they stood at the half-opened door. At any time they could be discovered by their target walking back up the stairs, by another guard coming on shift, the possibilities were endless. Tightening his hold on the grip of his gun, Squall tried to calm himself down by counting his breaths and keeping his ears trained for the sound of footsteps. Meanwhile Riku shifted his footing as he stared down the staircase, his lips tightened into a thin frown as he aimed his handgun down into the shadows.

Finally the sound of the front door of the shop opening and closing again resonated throughout the upper floor of the "clinic" and a few seconds later Zexion had found his way to the side room they were hiding out in, a small machine in his arms. As soon as he got close enough the shorter man passed the object he was holding to Squall, keeping his voice to a whisper as he glanced around, "This is a hydraulic spreader, similar to the jaws of life firemen use. It will be able to exert nearly sixteen-thousand pounds of spreading force on your door."

"Aw, look, even Zexy's useful sometimes! Although of course we need the one thing he didn't tell us to bring along…"

Zexion seemed to be ignoring him again so Squall scowled up at Riku as he shifted the device in his arms, "You're making too much noise again." Riku rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else. Satisfied, Squall holstered his gun so he could get a better grip on the spreader, "How does this thing work?"

Looking up from his investigation of the revealed hidden door, Zexion's eyes narrowed, "You place the arms of the device in the space between the wall and the door and then operate hydraulic pump housed inside the handle to get the arms to separate and widen the space. Typically these would run on a small gasoline engine, but this time it will have to run on manpower. I gave the spreader to you, Leon, because you seem like the best candidate here for the job."

Squall didn't bother ask why, just got straight to work. They had already wasted way too much time on this hit and every minute that passed by seemed like a year. Shoving the small machine into the space he and Riku had opened up, Squall once again threw his weight into his task. He winced as a loud metallic creak punctured the silence and out of the corner of his eye he saw Riku pass Zexion one of his smaller guns. The hydraulic spreader was doing its job though and little by little the door continued to open. Yeah, there was no way that he and Riku would've been able to pull the door open if it was this hard even with the extra sixteen thousand pounds of force working for them.

After one of the longest minutes of Squall's life the space was wide enough that they could slip through. Releasing his grip on the device, Squall shook out his hands before pulling the spreader free so that they could get by, "It's open. Let's go."

"You coming with us, Zex?"

"There seems little point in me returning to the van now…"

Riku grinned at Zexion's dry tone, "Okay, just stay behind us then and try not to break any body parts."

Before Zexion could respond, Squall cut in, "Knock it off. We need to move now before anyone notices us." Setting the spreader against the wall, Squall pulled his gun back out of its holster and took a cautious step down onto the first stair leading to the basement.

Instantly he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Something wasn't right. Not that it had ever been right since the moment they had decided to go through with this plan, but now something felt decidedly wrong. His instincts were telling him not to take another step and he knew why. Situations like the one he was just about to get himself into were a soldier's worst nightmare. Going into enemy territory, down into a basement, where the only likely path of retreat was a single staircase without any sort of knowledge of what was waiting for you. This was bad.

Squall was seriously considering turning around and telling Zexion that he wouldn't go down there without some sort of preliminary plan when the nozzle of Riku's gun dug into Squall's spine, a clear signal to keep moving. That's right; he had just been thinking himself that they couldn't waste any more time and here he was stalling on the first step of the staircase.

Forcing any hesitant feelings aside, Squall once again let his military training take over as he descended, step by step, into the darkened basement despite the fact that with every inch his sense of unease grew. He could feel Riku right behind him—the younger man's gun extended over Squall's shoulder—and could hear Zexion following closely after Riku though his steps were nearly silent. Squall was so focused on using every available sense to mentally calculate his next move that when a noise echoed out from the top of the staircase he started so badly that he almost accidentally discharged his gun into the darkness.

Whipping around, Squall grit his teeth as a figure appeared in front of the opened hidden door. From where he was standing three-fourths of the way into the basement, it was hard to say who it was at first but after half a second he was able to identify the shape—it was their target, the man they had followed from the broken down apartment building!

A moment of shocked silence passed between the two parties before Riku whipped his gun around, his finger about to tighten on trigger when the man spoke, sounding oddly smug for a man who had just found three killers breaking and entering, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Give me one good reason not to."

To Squall's shock, it wasn't the stranger who spoke up next but Zexion, the small man's tone suddenly strained, "Because this is a trap. It was all along…"

"_What_?"

Squall's hissed question went completely unrecognized, Zexion never once breaking his gaze with the man at the top of the stairs, "I should have recognized you on the street. I would have been more suspicious had I realized that you had gotten out of jail, Marluxia."

A deep chuckle filled the stairwell before the figure threw off his hood to reveal a head of pink hair and a wicked smirk. Marluxia, where had he heard that name before? By the way Riku's shoulders had tensed up the hitman knew him as well, so Marluxia must have had something to do with—That's it, he was the one who had given them information about their targets back when they were doing their robberies. He was also that guy who had sold them out to the Organization the first time. At the return of that certain memory, Squall's heart suddenly felt constricted.

"You always were perceptive, Zexion. Well, I hadn't received a very harsh jail sentence in the first place—no thanks to you, of course—and you'd be surprised about how far a bit of good behavior can get you. Then again, a bribe here or there doesn't hurt either. Let's not talk about that right now though. Instead, let's talk about your surrender to the Organization."

"Like hell that's going to happen!"

Riku's snarl didn't phase Marluxia at all; if anything, it only made his smile spread wider, "I was hoping you'd say something like that. You see, the three of you have clearly committed a treasonous act against the Organization and, as we all know," with a snap of the man's fingers, the basement behind Squall lit up under the harsh glare of bright fluorescents, revealing no less than twenty men decked out with bullet-proof vests and assault rifles, "traitors must be eliminated."

"Oh…_shit_."


	6. Chapter 6

Next chapter is up! Whoo! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: xHanako, Shinimegami7, ChaosGarden, nearcreature, FuzzyLion, MiaHarpy, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Becca86, Clockwork Phoenix, LoneBoy7, ramen-is-my-goddess, chibi heishi, kestrel26, Stellar Eclipse, RkM4U, Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Aindel S. Druida, SlippingSanity, VaseOfLove, Tsubasa-Faye, Mahon, YumiStar, xacilia, MeykoLove, ooXloveXoo582, RealityInABottle, and Dragi! You dudes are the awesomest! :)

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Chapter 6

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Squall barely had time to react, time to even think, before all hell broke loose. With one more nod from Marluxia, the armed guards raised their weapons and aimed them straight for the intruders' chests. The sight triggered something inside Squall and he immediately felt himself switch into survival mode as he raised his own gun.

Riku had been faster though and only a split second after the guards fired their first round Squall heard Riku's gun firing over his shoulder. Within the blink of an eye one of the guards was down, grasping at his neck. It was probably the only place that Riku could find to land a killshot.

Squall had managed to shoot one man in the thigh, sending him to the ground, but any subsequent shots were cut off as he pressed himself against the wall as the guards continued to fire back. From where they were standing on the staircase, they were like sitting ducks. There was no cover, no way to hide, and Squall, being in the front, was going to take the brunt of the attack. Unlike the guards, with their bullet-proof vests and helmets, they had zero protection against the gunshots. It was only a matter of time, probably milliseconds, until one of them was fatally wounded. They had to get out of here now.

It seemed that Zexion was already way ahead of them. As soon as the guards had lifted their guns, he had turned around and sprinted back up the stairs. Squall and Riku had unknowingly given the smaller man the distraction that he needed to make it to the top of the staircase in one piece. But before he could make it out, Marluxia had already flicked the switch. The hidden door jerked back to life with a deafening metallic screech and slammed shut, nearly crushing Zexion as the man tried to squeeze out.

At the noise, Squall glanced over his shoulder and his heart sunk. They were trapped. They were going to die here in the basement under that blinding fluorescent lighting—Wait. The light! It was their only shot. Grimacing as a bullet scrapped across his forearm, Squall faced the guards again but this time he aimed high, "Riku, switch guns!"

"What?"

Squall didn't bother to clarify, knowing he'd be understood in a second. Pulling the trigger on his handgun, he held his breath as a round flew out from the barrel and found its mark. Small shards of glass rained down on the guards as the bullet smashed into the ceiling light and the room, the staircase included, was sudden thrown into a darkness so thick Squall couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

The gunfire stopped instantly, Squall's ears filled with a sharp ringing as a tense silence stretched as both parties adjusted themselves to the new situation. Beneath the ringing, Squall could just make out the sound of rustling and realized that Riku was following his advice.

Sacred to so much as breathe and let the guards know where they were standing, Squall held still as a statute as he felt Riku's hand touch his shoulder. The fingertips ran across his leather jacket, as if searching for something, before they retracted and were replaced by something cold and hard—the barrel of a rifle. Squall didn't know how he felt about being a steady surface to shoot off of but at least he knew that if the barrel was crossing over his shoulder there wouldn't be any bullets hitting the back of his head. There was a sort pause and then a dark chuckle whispered out from behind him, "Gotcha…"

Squall had never appreciated night-vision rifle scopes as much as he did at that moment.

One by one, Riku fired shot after shot, each time landing a hit if the guards' screams were anything to go by. His pace was quick and efficient but not rushed. The staircase they were standing in, which until just seconds ago had been deadly, was now proving to be their savior. The stairs were so narrow that, as the guards began to blindly fire back, few of their shots made it in, and even those that did were aimed so haphazardly that none of them hit their target.

Within a few short minutes, the room was silent again save for the sound of groans and dying gasps echoing up from the basement turned mausoleum. Managing to find his voice, Squall spoke, his tone more tense than he would've liked, "Are they all down?"

"Down or dead, yeah."

Removing the rifle barrel from Squall's shoulder, Riku must've unscrewed his scope again to use as make-shift night-vision goggles because he somehow managed to see Zexion's expression. "What's with the frown, Zex? We're alive, aren't we?"

"Yes, through dumb luck and Leon's quick thinking. The only problem is for how long?" Zexion was speaking so quickly that it was almost hard to keep up. Squall didn't think he had ever heard the man sound more scared in his life, and it completely removed any sense of relief he felt from their victory. "Though this should have been enough to challenge us and take us down, you can be sure that the Organization will have more guards stationed upstairs who we will have to face down—"

"—Assuming we ever get out of here, right?"

"Wrong, Riku. I am confident that we will be able to get out. It is what will happen on the other side that has me nervous."

Blindly reaching a hand out, Squall's palm found the wall and he used it to guide him as he slowly bypassed Riku on the stairs and walked up to meet Zexion at the top, "I think anything would be better than to stay trapped down here just waiting for them to finish us off. How do we get out though? I didn't see any switch in here and we won't be able to push the door open ourselves. We tried that before."

Zexion released a huff, "I noticed, when the light was still on, that the hinges of the door are on this side. If we can get them undone, it will not be too hard to knock the door from its frame and allow us our escape. But once again, you can be certain that they will be waiting for us outside. Especially considering Marluxia is in their midst. The man is pretty cocky but he is meticulous enough to have thought up a very effective Plan B in the case that we somehow managed to escape this."

Before Squall could respond, Riku spoke up from behind them, his tone dry, "I, for once, agree with Leon. Whatever's waiting out there's gotta be better than staying here waiting for them to come back with some bigger guns. At least it'll be closer to the exit. Let's break that door down and get the hell out of here."

"But—"

Squall understood Zexion's wariness but standing here in the pitch black basement filled with dead people just waiting for an Organization member to come back to finish them off was starting to get to him, "You've been outvoted. We're leaving."

"Fine." Squall couldn't see Zexion's face but knew by the sound of his voice that the other man was not happy, "I can see that I am not going to win this argument. Just get it over with then so we can find out what fresh new hell the Organization has in store for us."

"And you wonder why we never want to take you along on our hits…" Riku's grumbling died as he stepped up to stand right behind Zexion, his shoulder brushing against Squall's. "I can see those hinges that Zex mentioned and it looks like popping them open is something that would be up your alley, Leon."

Snorting, Squall holstered his gun before reaching out a hand for the alleged hinges that he was apparently supposed to dismantle, "Sometimes I think you only bring me with you in order to muscle things around."

"Pretty much—"

"—Nonsense." Zexion cut Riku off before he could get himself into any trouble, "Though it does come in handy occasionally. Now, from what I saw before, the hinges are of a simple barrel hinge construction and should come loose if you dislodge the pivot running through the center. You could try prying it up from the top, but it may be easier to knock it out from the bottom."

Fingers finally finding one of the elusive hinges, Squall felt it out with his fingers and found that Zexion was right. "Does anyone happen to have a hammer with them?

There was the sound of fabric rustling before Zexion shifted to his right, "I do not have a hammer but I do have a chisel. That should work just as effectively."

Squall accepted the tool without any questions. He really didn't want to know why Zexion was carrying around a chisel—there was no harmless, innocent reason for him to be doing so. "It'll have to do." Pulling his gun back out he flipped on the safety and, after lining the head of the chisel up with the bottom of the hinge, gave the chisel a firm hit with the butt of his handgun. "See any change, Riku?"

"A bit. The pin moved up about a centimeter with that hit. Keep working on it."

Gritting his teeth to bite back any irritated comment, Squall channeled his anger into hammering the pivot pin from the hinge. After about ten more strikes, the soft tinkle of metal reached his ears before something brushed by his hands to clatter to the ground. The pin must have fallen out. Running his fingertips down the doorframe, Squall crouched down and began to work on the second of the three hinges. He could sense Riku getting impatient but every time he popped another hinge open, Zexion seemed to get more and more tense.

Finally, the last hinge fell open and Squall was about to kick the door down when Riku let out an annoyed grunt, "Wait, there still some wires attached at the top."

Sighing, Squall passed the chisel back to Zexion, "I don't suppose you have any wire cutters?"

There was a moment of silence before Zexion's voice muttered out through the darkness, his tone stiff and resigned, "…I packed one in the bag you are carrying."

Digging through the small duffle bag he had slung over his shoulder, Squall's fingers quickly found the rubber-lined handles of a pair of wire cutters lying at the bottom of the bag. He quickly pulled it out and reached up with both hands to the top corner of the door and, after a second of searching, his fingers wrapped around a large collection of wires connecting the door to whatever mechanism that caused it to open. It probably wasn't necessarily safe to just start cutting into them all at once, considering he had no idea if there was still electricity was running through them or not, not to mention that he couldn't even see what he was doing. But the consequences weren't exactly a priority. Getting out was.

Squall played it as safe as he could and cut each wire individually, hoping that his leather gloves would protect him from any small shocks of electricity that burst out. It was probably a good thing that he had been the one to cut the wires after all—he wasn't sure if Riku would've had the patience and he wasn't sure if Zexion would've even been able to reach them as high up as they were.

A breath escaped him as he snipped the last wire and pulled his arms back, having successfully avoided electrocution. "Is that it? No more wires or hinges?"

Riku answered back as Squall shoved the wire cutters back into his duffle, "Nope, we're good to go."

"Well, let's go then."

Zexion let out a small tisk but Squall and Riku chose to momentarily ignore him and instead delivered two sound kicks to the door. The heavy metal door wavered under the impact and just when Squall was brining his leg back for another go, it rocked back and slammed forward onto the tiled floor with a ground-shaking bang.

Squall blinked as light flooded back into the stairwell again and he was once more able to see. Glancing quickly to either side, he noted that both Riku and Zexion seemed to have been slightly injured during the shootout. Though he was clearly trying to hide it now that his partners could see again, Riku's side was covered with a growing patch of red. The fact that the younger man was still on his feet implied that it was probably only a flesh wound, but Riku was going to have to be careful if he didn't want to bleed out. Zexion was being less coy about his own injury, his hand pressed against a cut just below the eye that usually was completely covered by his bangs. It looked like he had been grazed with a bullet. If that was true, he was a very lucky guy because if the shot had been aimed a few more inches to the side, he would have received a very fatal shot right between the eyes. Squall knew that he himself was bleeding from the flesh wound on his forearm and that he had been dripping blood on the ground for the past few minutes.

With the new availability of a light source, Zexion seemed to have noticed their various injuries as well. Drawing in a sharp breath, he stepped back as Riku pushed his way forward and onto the main floor of the building, "We do not have the time to clean up whatever biological mess we left behind…"

He was right. If they took the time they needed to find and spray down all of their blood spatter with ammonia, they would probably be caught for sure. Joining Riku in the small office space, Squall waved for Zexion to follow, "Then let's go! Someone's got to have heard that door come down and it will only be a matter of time before—"

"—Before what? Before we catch you again?"

Spinning around on his heels, Squall's eyes widened for a second before narrowing into a sharp glare. Marluxia was standing in the doorway with a smile awfully smug for a man who had just had twelve of his lackeys murdered a minute ago downstairs. Instantly, all three of them had trained their guns on the pink-haired man and yet that smile still didn't fade, "I have to say, I'm a little impressed. Shooting out the light, very clever."

Zexion responded first, his voice sounding steady as a rock despite the fear he had shown just a few moments ago, "Get out of our way, Marluxia. Do not think that I will find no pleasure in killing you."

"And we used to be so close, Zexion. Well, as close as any two people can be in this business…Anyway, how about we try this again. Surrender or we can do this all over again." With a nod of the man's head, another fresh batch of Organization guards filed into the room. Squall took a step back, his jaw tightening. There was still only one way out, but this time it was being blocked by the enemy, and the only other door in the room led down into a dark, dead-end basement full of corpses. He hadn't thought that there could've been a worse situation than the one they just faced, but this was proving him wrong. "We can have another go at it, but I'm guessing this time you won't be so lucky."

Literally backed into a corner, Squall's eyes darted around, desperately considering their options as Riku and Zexion stood tense beside him. They could just start shooting, but he didn't know how they could escape alive. They could retreat back into the basement, but then what? They'd have to come out sometime and it wasn't like the Organization was going to forget about them and just leave. As his gaze landed on Zexion's face, he saw a bone-deep resignation in the man's visible eye and realized that left only one option.

Zexion was the first to drop his weapon, the noise as it clattered to the ground causing Riku to jump. Squall was next, his eyes coolly looking back up to meet with Marluxia's before he slowly lowered himself to the ground and set down his service pistol, feeling almost naked without it as he straightened back up. A choked scoff burst passed Riku's lips but it seemed that even he knew that the game was over because, a second later, he bent down and set his rifle on the floor.

"Good choice, boys. Kick the guns to the side."

Gritting his teeth, Squall obeyed the order and as gently as he could kicked his handgun and sent it skidding across the tiled floor into the far corner, Zexion and Riku's weapons shortly joining it.

Marluxia's infuriating smirk grew and Squall decided then and there that he hated the expression worse than Riku's smug smile, which was saying a lot, "Now put your hands behind your heads." After they did so, the man pushed himself off of the wall and sauntered towards them, "You don't mind if we do a quick search, do you? Can't have any of you carrying any concealed weapons."

Zexion's eyes were narrowed down to a dangerous glower as three guards approached them and began to dig through their pockets, "Go to hell."

Shrugging his shoulders, Marluxia turned and walked back towards the door, "After I finish up my contract with the Organization, it will probably be a welcome relief."

Squall held still as the duffle bag was ripped off of his shoulder and thrown across the room and as he was roughly searched for any item that could possibly pose a threat. He didn't like being manhandled but he wasn't about to give them a reason to shoot him now that he without his handgun. Riku seemed to be having an equally hard time keeping quiet as they divested him of all of the various guns he had brought along, a small pile of firearms forming where the guard threw them. Nevertheless, all of them held their tongues. The situation was too volatile for any of them to ruin things with a snide comment.

Once they were finally unarmed, the guards that had searched them twisted their arms behind their backs to keep them from making an escape attempts as Marluxia spoke up again from the other side of the room, not to them but to the guards holding them, "See that they're properly restrained then meet outback at the truck. I'll go let the boss know that we have acquired our targets."

It was amazing how fast they had gone from being the hunter to becoming the hunted.

Squall didn't know what the Organization had in store for them next but he was sure that it would be a very bad idea to get on the truck Marluxia had just mentioned. He had to struggle inwardly not to fight back as the guard holding him unceremoniously shoved him forward and out of the room. As they were pushed out into the hallway with the multiple doors, Squall realized that one of the doors that they hadn't checked must've led to some sort of back entrance, maybe some sort of old loading dock. That was how the second wave of guards had gotten inside the building and that was where they were now being herded like livestock.

They hadn't gotten more than two steps down the hall however, when Zexion suddenly seemed to snap, his voice ringing out through the corridor, "For the record, I blame the two of you!" The guards leading them stopped, probably to see if Zexion was going to make any trouble and Squall twisted his head around to look at the smaller man as he continued to rant, "If you two had not wanted to leave the basement, we never would have gotten captured like this!"

He had never seen the other man loose his cool like this and despite his own fears about what was to come it was sort of fascinating, like watching a plane fall out of the sky. Riku though seemed to be getting nothing than annoyed from Zexion's outburst, "For shit's sake, they would've gotten us anyway! You can't blame this on us!"

"Oh, yeah? Watch me! This was all your fault. If the two of you had put more thought into this plan, none of this would have happened. I should have known that if I let you help plan things out something would go wrong!"

Now the guards almost seemed to be enjoying themselves but Squall too was starting to get irritated and couldn't help himself as he joined in the conversation, "What's that supposed to mean?"

A mirthless, nearly wild, smirk spread across Zexion's lips, "Was that too complicated for the both of you? Should I make it simpler? Fine! It means that you two are idiots! Between the two of you, you would barely have enough brains to outwit a grade-schooler! The only talent Riku has is shooting things, and the only reason I kept you around was because of your brawn. Good job, by the way, in failing to do well even in that category."

Okay, Squall didn't know what the hell was wrong with Zexion, but that comment stung. The only reason he hadn't torn himself free of his captor and jumped the man was because he couldn't figure out why the other's personality had just done a 180. It was like Zexion was pushing all his buttons, trying to pick a fight. Did he want to get punched? Because he was really freaking close to getting a fist in the face, screw the consequences. Their guards would probably cheer them on if they started going at it. In fact, as if giving him the go ahead, he could already feel his guard's grip loosening around his wrists—Ah. Was that it, then? Meeting Zexion's gaze he finally saw past the "rage" and confirmed that the man hadn't gone insane—he was creating an escape route. And it was going to take Squall's participation to make it happen. "At least I pull my own weight around here, not like you, you pathetic little smart ass! You talk big but the second things get dangerous, you use me as a shield, you coward!"

It seemed Riku had caught on before Squall had and continued to play along. The more they yelled at each other, the more the guards watching over them began to almost subconsciously loosen their grip on their charges, undoubtedly wanting to see their prisoners beat the crap out of each other, "Shut up, Leon, it's not like you're one to talk! At least we're brave enough to admit what we are, meanwhile you're stuck in your own little fantasy world thinking you're not a murderous bastard!"

Squall faked, well, half-faked, a lunge towards Riku, "I'd like to see you say that to my face, you punk!"

"You. Are. A. Murdering. Coward. How's that?"

"_That's it_!" With one final lunge, Squall just barely managed to break free from the man holding him. Feigning a charge at Riku, knowing that his guard wouldn't be in a huge hurry to stop him, he swung around at the very last second and used the momentum he had built up to land a devastating right hook into his guard's jaw. Squall heard the sharp crack of bone before the man crumpled to the ground and chaos once again broke out.

The confined space of the hall actually worked for Squall, Riku, and Zexion. As Riku and Zexion turned on the guards holding them and Squall leapt forward to attack one of the several others who had been escorting them, they found that they were able to get close enough so that they could kick and punch out their opponents and the guards wouldn't be able to shoot them with their rifles at such a tight distance. And Riku and Zexion, he noted, where very capable fighters. While Squall's moves were all developed from the martial combat that had been embedded into his brain with SeeD, Riku's jabs and kicks seemed much more experience-based, probably a result of living with his line of work from a disturbingly young age. Zexion was another thing altogether and what he lacked in pure strength, he made up for in viciousness, clearly unafraid to gouge out an eye or two if it meant he could walk away from the scuffle.

Knowing that they had to fight their way to the front entrance if they wanted to get out of this alive, Squall tried to clear a path towards the abandoned store front. Sending a fist into his newest opponent's stomach just below his bullet-proof vest, he brought his knee hard up into the man's chin as he doubled over, knocking him out cold. It seemed like every time he sent one man to the ground though, another would just take his place.

Between watching out for fists and gun muzzles, Squall quickly lost track of Riku and Zexion and barely even noticed when Marluxia slipped back into the hall. Having probably returned when he heard the sound of a scuffle, Squall was just able to catch the man's voice over the sound of the melee. "Damn it. Unbelievable…I guess it's time to call in for reinforcements…"

Reinforcements? Squall didn't even want to think was sort of "reinforcements" Marluxia would call in if they didn't escape in time. As if they needed anything else to worry about, now they were had an unknown time frame in which they would be able to get out. He only hoped that whoever Marluxia was calling had a low response time…

* * *

Night had long since fallen on Twilight Town and Cloud and Axel were unsurprisingly still in their office. It seemed to have become a second make-shift home for both of the men who were practically living out of it now.

Almost a week had gone by since Roxas's accident and they were still neck-deep in the case. They had basically solved it already, but now they had to fill out all the required paperwork in order to officially close it and push the case through the court system. Because their suspect was already dead, they had to jump through a few extra hoops to get their results. The higher-ups hadn't been exactly helpful in getting things sorted out either. Apparently they were worried about even indirectly involving the Organization's name in any official documents as if it was going to stir up a ghost and cause the old Organization case to come back and haunt them.

At the moment, Cloud was allowing himself to rest for half an hour, his head down on his desk as he tried to get a small nap in. It was already nearing eleven at night and he had been up since four that morning. A short nap definitely not too much to ask for, was it?

Apparently fate thought so.

Cloud was startled awake by a loud pounding on their office door. Jolting up into a sitting position, he blinkingly watched as Axel, already standing, crossed the room in two large steps and yanked the door open, "What the hell, Jameson? You're going to break the door down!"

"Sorry detectives!" The receptionist's face was near panicked, "But a call just came in for all units to get down to the south-side waterfront. Apparently there was a shoot-out—"

Cloud was fully awake at this point and already gathering his things together, "How many shot's fired?"

"No one's sure. The call we got made it sound like it was a war zone or something!"

Axel swore under his breath as he pulled on his jacket, "Shit, I wonder if it's a gang thing."

Twilight Town was small and pretty free of crime but even it had some somewhat active gangs in the worse-off parts of town. Usually they were pretty harmless but the idea that there might have been a violent encounter between two gangs made Cloud's heart begin to race. Hurrying through the door, he waved for Axel to follow as he fished his car keys out of his pocket, "Jameson, radio Twilight Town's SWAT and have them meet us there!" If things were bad, Twilight Town's scanty police force wouldn't be able to contain it on their own.

"Yes, sir, I'll call them right away!"

Cloud and Axel, and a few other cops who had been in the station burst outside and ran down the front stairs to the parking lot. Car doors slammed, police lights flashed, and sirens began wailing as officers reached their patrol cars and swerved out onto the main road. Jumping in his own car, Cloud barely waited for Axel to get inside before gunning the engine and joined the small stream of squad cars racing toward the disturbance.

Snapping his seatbelt on, Axel leaned forward and flicked on the police scanner, the channel already having been taken over by dispatch as they tried to disperse vital information to the officers en route to the scene. "—_ten-seventy one down on the water front south of Tram Commons. Multiple shots reported having come from an abandoned building. All available units, head to location. Code three, use lights and sirens. Confirmation received that Twilight Town SWAT has been notified and are sending a team to the location now—_"

Axel shook his head, "Damn, I haven't heard the line this busy in a long time."

Cloud nodded in quick agreement, "At least it sounds like Jameson came through."

"Of course this shit happened right when we were about to finish up our case though."

Cloud nodded again. Despite the fact that he had just been taking a quick nap, this new interruption was annoying, especially since it promised to be a large ordeal. To make matters worse, he and Axel were probably going to be the ranking officers to arrive at the scene so—at least at the beginning—they were probably going to be the ones to call the shots. Meaning whatever happened during that time fell would fall under their responsibility. "Just pray that we don't get stuck with the paperwork."

Any response Axel might have given was cut off as dispatch continued, "—_Another call just came in confirming the shooting and saying that a number of trespassers have entered the waterfront property and that a struggle has ensued between them and those on the property—_"

It sounded like whatever happened was still going down. That was good and bad news: good news because it meant that the perpetrators were likely to still be on the scene when they arrived and bad news of course because the longer the conflict, the higher the chance of serious injuries being inflicted. Luckily on both counts, traffic to that part of town was negligible due to the late hour and only one car passed by, the black truck quickly melting back into the night. That allowed the parade of squad cars to get there in nearly record time.

Locating the right building, they quickly arranged a loose formation over the radio and got the cars to pull into a circle around the perimeter, blocking off any chance of anyone inside escaping. Once his car was in position Cloud shifted into park and practically kicked the door out, his handgun drawn with the safety off. He had no idea what to expect but he was going to be ready for it.

As Axel and the other officers piled out of their vehicles, Cloud glanced back down the road to see a large armored black SWAT van pulling up behind the police's blockade. Reaching back into the car, Cloud snatched up the radio, "Detective Strife to dispatch, SWAT has arrived on the scene." As soon as the van came to a stop, a man dressed all in black and decked out in a bullet-proof vest, helmet, and finished off with an assault rifle in his hands jumped from the front passenger's seat.

The man seemed to recognize Axel and Cloud as the people in charge because he immediately began to head over to their car as dispatch's reply echoed out over the scanner, "—_Copy that, Detective Strife. All units be advised, police and SWAT are now on scene. Can you report the situation?—_"

Scanning the building in front of them as it was illuminated by the flashing colored lights from the squad cars, Cloud couldn't hear any gunfire but there was definitely a lot of movement coming from inside. He could hear shouts and things, maybe people, getting thrown around; it sounded like an over-enthusiastic bar fight, but if anyone was armed inside things could get really dangerous really fast. All of the officers, he and Axel included, were standing behind their car doors, weapons drawn and their eyes glued to the structure. "It looks like an old drug store or health clinic. I can see movement but not a lot else."

"—_Understood—_"

By now the SWAT had reached their car and approached them with a quick salute as a greeting, "Are you calling the shots around here?"

Axel was the first to nod and reached back to give the man a quick handshake, "At the moment, yeah. Detective Flynn and Detective Strife." As he said Cloud's name, the redhead nodded in his direction.

The SWAT seemed to do a bit of a double-take before slipping his helmet off to reveal cropped blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, "Small world. I'm the commander of my SWAT unit, name's Seifer Almasy." The name sounded familiar to Cloud but he couldn't quite place it. Perhaps noting his confusion, Seifer sent him a small smirk, "Going off of your last name, I'm guessing Roxas is your younger brother. I used to harass him a bit when we were younger, I'm sure you've heard stories."

Right. That's where he heard the name before. Whether or not Roxas and Seifer didn't get along was not that important right now though. What was important was that they get control of the situation at hand. Though it was probably a good thing Roxas wasn't here. Pushing on, Cloud motioned with his head toward the building, "Commander Almasy, do you have much experience with this sort of thing?"

Getting back down to business, Seifer's smirk fell away into a serious frown in an instant, "I'll be honest, stationed in Twilight Town, the only action me and my crew really get to see is when we're deployed to the near-by cities. But this is a shooting and property invasion, right?" As Cloud and Axel's nodded, the blonde continued, "I've been with SWAT for almost two years now and I've dealt with similar situations even before that so you're in good hands."

Cloud liked that Seifer knew what he wanted to hear without Cloud actually having to ask it. Axel seemed to think along the same lines as he turned his gaze back to the clinic, "What do you think our next move should be then?"

Seifer's sharp eyes quickly surveyed the building, "It looks like your guys already have a good enough control over the perimeter. I'm betting whoever broke in is still inside, but even if we've been called in we can't just charge in without making sure."

Cloud knew the other man was right, but he had been hoping that when SWAT arrived they would've been able to take control over the operation. He had confidence in his and the Twilight Town PD's abilities but very few of the officers had ever been involved in a large-scale shoot-out before and he didn't want this to be their first test. But since the police had been called, it was their duty to get a good understanding of the situation before SWAT took over. Swearing under his breath, Cloud began to think out loud, "I'd rather our regular officers not have to put themselves directly in the line of fire, though we will if we have to."

Before Axel could speak up, Seifer beat him to it, "I'm sure you'd do a fine job, but my team is fully ready to lead the charge. No offense, but I'd rather it be us anyway. We have more training and we don't need any unnecessary casualties."

"Okay…Here's what we can do then. We'll keep our men covering the outside perimeter and you can move your team in closer, maybe covering the exits. I'll go to the door and see if I can't get a response from inside or at least uncover some probable cause for you to enter—"

Axel cut Cloud off as he finally got a word in, "—and I'll go with him. Don't think I'm letting you do something that dangerous by yourself, Cloud."

"How about the three of us go up together?" Pulling his helmet back on, Seifer waved back towards the SWAT van and the back opened to release nine other SWAT team members, all in matching black uniforms. "The rest of your plan, half-assed though it is, should work well enough. My team will pull a tight perimeter and block all the doors and windows in the building and as soon as I send a signal they'll be able to break in and take care of things. When any and all threats have been neutralized, your guys can come in and make the arrests. The PD can stay back where they are until then; that way if something gets screwed up we'll have something to fall back on."

"Fine. Get SWAT in place then. I want to move in fast before—" Cloud was suddenly interrupted as the sound of a gunshot ripped through the night air over the sound of the brawl inside. Everyone outside had immediately ducked back down to take cover but it was soon obvious that the shot had come from inside the building and had been aimed at someone else inside the building, "—before something like that happens! Come on!"

OoOoOo

Squall dove behind one of the empty store shelves in the front room of the clinic, avoiding being shot by inches as one of the Organization guards lined his rifle up for another shot. They had just barely managed to fight their way into the front of the building but things were getting bad again. Now that they were out of the narrow hallway, their close-range advantage was lost and the guards' guns were becoming useful again.

Every now and again he was able to catch a glimpse of Riku and Zexion. The last he had seen, Zexion had been jumping over the counter to try and find some shelter and Riku had been smashing a broken piece of wood down onto one of the Organization flunkies. Both men were still holding up but now that bullets were flying again, it wouldn't be long before someone got their head shot off. Marluxia's "reinforcements" hadn't shown up yet, for which he was grateful. Now that they had made it to the front of the building, Squall was sure that they would be able to get away, even if it meant running all the way back to Traverse Town on foot. If they could only make it to the door—

His thoughts were cut off by a loud pounding from the front door and his hope died in his chest along with any expectation of escape. Marluxia's reinforcements had shown up after all. "_Twilight Town Police!_" Or maybe not. "_Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!_"

The police weren't much better, although the Organization members in the room looked just as surprised as Squall felt. He knew for a fact that the Twilight Town PD wasn't on the Organization's payroll so if Marluxia had called them in he must have acted like a regular citizen when he made the call. Who knew what he had told the cops about the situation?

Squall's attention was brought harshly back to the fight at hand when the man he was up against used his momentary distraction to nail Squall in the side of his head with the butt of his rifle. Vision spinning from the blow, Squall shook his head to try and clear it before jumping his assailant to prevent any follow-up attacks. Grabbing the barrel of the man's rifle, Squall pushed it up to point at the ceiling and with his other hand managed to land a swift blow to the lackey's side. The impact of his fist was buffered by the vest the man was wearing but it still seemed to knock the wind out of him. Drawing his hand back, Squall was just about to deliver a finishing hit when the front door suddenly burst open as if it had exploded from its frame.

Men rushed inside, shouting for everybody to get on the ground. Before Squall could finish his opponent off, he was wrenched back by a firm hand and spun around—only to come face to face with the last person in the world he wanted to see.

"Cloud?"

His own horror at finding the other here was directly reflected in Cloud's expression, the detective's blue eyes wide as he held his gun outstretched before him, "Le-Leon? The hell—?" As soon as the stammer left his mouth, a dark look of understanding settled in Cloud's eyes, Squall's lips tightening as the blonde's voice rose to a shout, "You're the one who did this?"

"Listen—"

"What the hell were you thinking! Just one weekend, I didn't see you for one weekend and you—I trusted—!" Cloud seemed to choke on his own words and, despite the chaos around him as people were wrestled down to the floor, Squall felt a stab of guilt hit him in the heart. For a moment the emotion in Cloud's eyes had been so raw and overwhelming that it was almost unbearable, but within the blink of an eye the detective closed the look off, "You bastard! With Roxas, and everything else, you just had to throw this in, didn't you? Where are Riku and Zexion? They're here too, aren't they? Is this a robbery gone bad?"

"No, Cloud, just—"

"Shut up and get on the ground!"

"But—"

"I said get on the ground!"

Cloud's tone and the gun pointed at his chest made the seriousness of the order clear, but Squall wasn't just going to lie down without explaining himself. Opening his mouth, he was about to respond when from out of nowhere a large weight suddenly plowed into his side and tackled him to the ground, the muzzle of a gun pushed roughly up against his temple, "He said 'on the ground', you punk! Make me say it one more time and—what the hell?"

Twisting his head around, Squall's eyebrows shot up as he gazed up at person currently pinning him to the ground. The SWAT—shit, they had called in SWAT?—was wearing a helmet but their eyes were visible through the visor. Mentally forcing down a flashback to a time he didn't want to remember, Squall focused on the present moment. Fate must've been laughing its ass of right about now. "Almasy?"

"_Leonhart_?"

OoOoOo

Seifer's eyes shot up to Cloud than back down to Leon, then back again at Cloud as he pressed Leon to the ground, the man's knee digging into Leon's back and the barrel of his gun shoved up against the side of his head. Normally, Cloud would've asked him to get up but right now he wasn't feeling particularly charitable. Frankly, Leon was lucky that Cloud hadn't shot him on sight. That bastard—he had actually…why had he even…?

Jerking his gaze away, Cloud ignored Seifer's questioning eyes and Leon's blank ones and called back to the police officers pouring inside the building, "Get everyone without a badge in cuffs!"

"Wait a damn minute, someone tell me what the hell is going on here! Leonhart, what the hell are you doing here?"

Leon didn't say anything. Not that Cloud had really expected it. He didn't know how Seifer and Leon knew each other, but apparently he didn't have anything to say to either one of them. Hearing footsteps coming up behind him, he glanced over his shoulder, feeling unexpectedly drained. It was Axel and, judging on the expression on his face, he didn't have any good news. "Cloud, we need to talk."

"Let me guess," Looking around, Cloud watched as police and SWAT members alike began to wrestle men off of the floor and back out towards the squad cars waiting to take them to a holding cell, "…you found Riku and Zexion somewhere?"

"How did you--?" Cloud stepped aside to give his partner a clear view of the scene at his feet, "—Oh…Well shit, the gang's all here. This brings back memories, huh?"

A nauseous feeling welled up in Cloud's throat and for a minute he actually thought he was going to vomit. There was no way that he could—that he _would_—deal with this right now. As if he didn't have enough on his plate with Roxas in the hospital, closing a case, worrying about the Organization starting back up, and bombings, and car wrecks, and shootings…he had trusted that for a single weekend Leon would be able to stay out of trouble and he had it thrown back in his face. "Just…get them out of here. Take those three to the station and…do something with the rest."

Holstering his gun, Cloud ran a hand over his face as Axel wisely backed off to start delegating tasks to the police officers on the scene. Seifer hesitated for just a second longer before finally removing his gun from Leon's head and pulling the man to his feet, "Look, I don't know what the hell is going on here, and it's kind of ticking me off that no one's telling me anything. Leonhart," Leon grunted as Seifer gave him a rough shake, "if you've gotten back into that illegal shit, I've already gotten you out of trouble once. I told you I'd only do it once last time and I meant it. If you're going to get out of this, you're going to have to hit someone else up for a favor."

Cloud blinked as two pairs of eyes slid over and landed on him. Immediately he shook his head as anger surged back through his veins and he glared straight back at Leon, "Don't even _think_ that I'm going to do anything for you. You've had this coming for years!" And it showed just how much of an idiot Cloud had been for beginning to think anything different. "Commander Almasy, do your job or I'll call an officer over to relieve you."

Behind his helmet, Cloud couldn't see the scowl but knew that the other blonde wasn't happy by the sudden furrow in his brow, "Don't tell me how to do my job, Detective. How about you start doing yours?"

He was about to ask what he meant when Cloud realized that he had been standing in the same exact place for about five minutes now. Shaking his head, he just turned away. Right. He was the ranking detective on the scene. It was up to him to figure out what was going on, not stare at one suspect for an hour. He needed to distance himself. He needed that distance or else—gods knew what would happen if he didn't. He didn't want to find out.

Leaving Leon to his fate, Cloud quickly marched off to inspect the rest of the room. He spotted Axel across the room and would've headed over to his had the redhead not been standing over two suspiciously familiar figures. And if Cloud even caught a glimpse of Zexion or Riku's faces he was going to completely fly off the handle. So, spinning around on his heels, Cloud headed in the opposite direction and instead walked through the front room, just letting his eyes absorb information.

There were quite a few men carrying rifles and dressed for a fight being ushered out into the night. Thinking back on it, Leon was unarmed. Assuming that he, Riku, and Zexion were the only people on their team, which is how it usually went, then that meant that it was only the three of them up against who knew how many of these gunmen. Then again, it wasn't like Leon, Riku, or Zexion to go into a situation unarmed. Had they been lured here then? Caught off guard? No…he could see that happening with one of them, but to lure all three of them to a location at the same time would be ridiculous. But if they were unarmed then…maybe it was possible?

Noticing a hall at the back of the storefront, Cloud investigated. Everything had been torn up by the struggle and as he crossed the clinic it was clear that it was going to take forever to process the scene. That is, after they interviewed all of their suspects, which was a daunting idea in itself.

The hall looked much the same as the rest of the place: filled with the slumped over bodies of men with guns and bullet-proof vests. And, just like the ones front the front of the store, none of them looked like they had been shot, just had the crap beaten out of them. Since the moment he had recognized Leon, he had been sure that these other men were working under the orders of the Organization. To his knowledge, there was no one else that Leon would get in a fight with. But if he, Riku, and Zexion came all the way out to Twilight Town together, they would've had to have known what they were getting themselves into and they would've come prepared. And yet, no one was shot. Things just didn't add up.

Stepping aside to make room for the police officers trying to heave a semi-conscious man off of the ground, Cloud maneuvered his way over to one of the many doors branching off of the hallway. They had all been kicked open, probably by SWAT as they did their initial search the building, so he didn't have any trouble gaining access to anywhere.

Methodically searching them one by one, he was surprised that there didn't seem to be any signs of a struggle in any of the side rooms. Most were too small to have really been useful to either Leon, Riku, Zexion, or the Organization's men, but even the larger rooms looked as if they hadn't seen any action. The fight must've started either in the front room or the hall then and spilled out into the adjoining area. Only one room stood out as an exception from that rule. It was of a medium size and mostly empty save for a few small bins and a fuse box, but the far wall looked like it had been badly damaged somehow. And in front of the damaged section there was an interesting scuff mark on the floor, as if a heavy piece of furniture had been dragged out of the way.

As he took a step inside and began to make mental notes to mention to the crime scene technicians, the glint of metal in his peripheral vision caught his attention and he turned to search for it. There, half-hidden behind one of the bins, was a handgun. It looked like it had been thrown or kicked back there, but, as Cloud drew closer, it wasn't the location of the gun that stuck out, it was the gun itself. He had seen it enough times over the past few years to recognize it even from a distance—it was Leon's pistol, his service gun from SeeD.

If Leon had brought his weapon, so did Riku and Zexion and they had been armed when they came and had somehow lost their firearms. That meant that they had come ready for a fight. It meant that they knew what they were doing. It meant that Leon hadn't said a word about it to him beforehand, had deliberately kept information from him. And it meant that now they deserved whatever they got.


	7. Chapter 7

Yay! Happy June! I know some of you lucky ducks are probably out on Summer Break already, so congratulations to you all! To all of those (like myself) who aren't out of school yet, keep it up! We're almost there! Whoo! (For all of those who don't get a break, my hat goes off to you). I wanted to write a (slightly) longer chapter to celebrate all of the above, so…enjoy? ^^;

Thank you very much to all of those who reviewed! Nearcreature, chibi heishi, RealityInABottle, Clockwork Phoenix, luxaeterna1020, Dragi, r a a i n, YumiStar, DirtyZephyrAssassin, RkM4U, Stellar Eclipse, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Becca86, Bane-Dane, Bane-Dane, Tsubasa-Faye, Oreo, AvariceOfTheTulips, ChaosGarden, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Aindel S. Druida, Shinimegami7, ramen-is-my-goddess, PyroAhlex, Fried Chicken, and SlippingSanity; you dudes rock! ^_^

O

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

After everyone inside the old health clinic had been subdued, it didn't take long for the Twilight Town Police Department to round them all up into awaiting vehicles with the help of the SWAT team. All in all, the had gathered up sixteen men for the county jail, to be held until they could get a better understanding of the situation, seven men for the hospital, and, of course, three slated to be brought back to the Twilight Town Police station for immediate questioning.

Allowed to leave after finally handing the building over to the crime scene technicians, Cloud found Axel waiting by his car, the redhead sitting on the hood while Leon, Riku, and Zexion sat silently in the back. Even through the metal screen separating the front and back seats of the converted cruiser, their expressions were odd mixtures of relief and trepidation, though Leon refused to meet his gaze. So much for the better—Cloud didn't think he could stand to look into the man's eyes right now.

Axel gave him a quick nod as Cloud drew closer and slid off of the car to stand, "Is everything taken care of in there?"

"Yeah, for now. Did SWAT take off already?"

The redhead gave a soft nod, "They left as soon as the last passenger was loaded up. Why?"

Swearing in his head, Cloud looked away from Leon's down-turned face, "It was nothing important. I just wanted to talk with Commander Almasy about something." He wanted to know how Seifer and Leon knew each other. Seifer was the guy who used to make Roxas's life miserable when they were younger—he recalled that much as soon as Seifer had said it—but how did he know Leon? The two lived in separate cities and, with Seifer in SWAT and Leon working beneath the law, the two clear had separate lines of work. Had the two met during another one of Leon's burglary attempts and Cloud didn't know about? Or was Seifer not as clean as he made himself out to be? Both were bad options. Either Twilight Town had more dirty law enforcement officers in their midst or Leon had participated in even more illegal activities than even Cloud was aware of. As angry as the detective was at his parolee right now, he didn't want to see Leon getting into any more trouble than he already had. It seemed like there should be more, like a memory was sitting somewhere in the back of his mind that he just couldn't bring back to the surface-

"Did something happen?"

Cloud's chin bobbed up and he evenly met Axel's curious gaze, "Why would you say that?"

"On his way out, Commander Almasy gave me his contact information to pass along to you. It sounded like he had some questions of his own, so something must have happened if the two of you want to get in touch with each other."

"Oh." Heaving a sigh, Cloud brought a hand up to rub his forehead to try and soothe away a building headache. It wasn't working. For a moment he considered not telling Axel what was bothering him, but he was too tired to be coy about it. "The guy seemed to know Leon from somewhere and I just wanted to check up on why that would be the case. It's bothering me."

"That is a little weird. But we can worry about that later. Right now, we have some cargo," Axel's hand slammed down onto the hood of the car, the resulting noise startling the three inside, "to drop off. You want to question them tonight, or…?" Axel's voice trailed off while the redhead took in Cloud's general appearance, "You know what, let's save that for tomorrow, huh? It's late, I'm tired, and you look like you could use some sleep yourself."

Cloud would've protested that he was fine but he knew that Axel wouldn't have bought it anyway. That, and his suggestion pretty spot-on right now. "Probably…Let's just get these three back into a holding cell first."

"Right."

Walking around to the side of the car, Cloud pulled the driver's door opened. Starting up the engine as Axel climbed into the passenger seat, the blonde glanced back only once into the seats behind, "Comfortable back there?"

His question was met by a long span of silence before Riku finally broke it as Cloud pulled back out onto the main street, "Not really. These seats feel like they were made out of concrete."

"Good."

Zexion spoke up from the middle of the back seat before Riku could come up with any sort of retort, "I am aware of how this must look, but, as I was trying to explain to Detective Flynn earlier, the situation is not quite as it seems—"

A wave of Axel's hand cut the man short, "Like I said before, save it for the station. You can _explain_ yourselves after we turn on a tape recorder."

"Can you not just hear us out now? It is not like you have anything better to do on the ride there. If you would just listen, I am sure that you would come to agree that whatever offense you believe we have committed is—"

This time Zexion was interrupted by Cloud who had just used up his last shred of patience, "Whatever you have to say, save it. I'm not exactly in the mood to be empathetic. You three are just lucky we didn't ship your asses out to the county jail like we did with the rest of your buddies."

"They weren't exactly our 'buddies'—"

"—Shut up, Riku. Like I was saying, you three are just lucky we're taking you back with us, so unless you want to spend the night in county you _will_ behave yourselves tonight and tomorrow you _will_ tell us exactly what the hell you were doing tonight. Clear?" Cloud stared hard at the three from the rearview mirror and Riku and Zexion let out a muttered affirmative response. But that wasn't who he had been waiting to hear from, "Am I clear, Leon?"

Finally, the brunette lifted his head and Cloud just managed to catch a glimpse of his stormy gray eyes before the detective tuned his gaze on the road. His focus flickered back up though at Leon's dull tone, "Crystal…"

Ever since Cloud had found Leon that night, the man had been surprisingly closed-off. That is, Leon was never exactly an open person to begin with, but for the past few hours the man had been practically unresponsive. Cloud had expected him to show a little more spirit throughout the situation, if not through his words than at least through his expressions, but it was as if he had just withdrawn completely into himself. It was like he was protecting himself from whatever lay ahead. And Cloud didn't know what the other was expecting, but to see him so completely resigned was worrying. Did the thought of a possible jail sentence scare him so much, or was there something more?

Shaking his head, Cloud forced himself to stop dwelling on it. Either Leon would tell him what was going on or he and Axel would find out the hard way. Right now, all he had to focus on was doing his job and figure out what had happened and where things had gone wrong.

OoOoO

After leaving Squall, Zexion, and Riku in individual holding cells at the station, Cloud and Axel had both escaped back to their cars and then their respective homes to try and get a bit of rest. Try being the key word there because, even back in his apartment and despite the late—or early—hour, Cloud found himself unable to unwind enough to get to sleep. The most he had managed was an hour-long nap before he was awake again with thousands of thoughts racing around like a whirlwind in his head.

Another hour of tossing and turning on his bed later and he gave up on sleeping completely and pushed himself up and onto his feet. There were just too many things for him to be taking care of for him to be lying around uselessly. A quick glance at his alarm clock as he stood up told him it was five in the morning so Cloud allowed himself to take a longer shower before stumbling out of his room and into the kitchen. As always, his cupboards were practically bare but he managed to scrounge up something edible after leaving a note for himself to go grocery shopping. Plopping down onto his couch, he turned on the early morning news and was just about to take a bite of his make-shift breakfast when he heard his cell phone ring.

Leaping back up onto his feet so fast that he nearly knocked his food onto the floor, Cloud dove into his bedroom and riffled through his jacket's pockets, his fingers closing around his cell just in time. He really should just carry the damn thing around 24-7. Glancing at the screen, he saw that the caller ID didn't recognize the number—maybe it was a tip coming in about what happened last night? With a quick flick of his wrist, Cloud snapped the phone open on the last ring and pulled it to his ear, "Detective Strife speaking."

"_Cloud_?"

The light voice was quaking just slightly and it took him a moment before he was able to place it. Then, something snapped into place. Oh shit. He had forgotten about him. "Sora?"

"_Um…I, I'm sorry to call so early, but…_"

Sora's voice trailed off as Cloud picked himself up and walked back into the main room. Sitting back down on the couch, he muted the television. How much did the kid know? He must have known something if he was calling Cloud of all people. "It's fine. I was already up."

"_Oh, okay. Look, I know this is going to sound weird and I promised I wouldn't call, but I, I just don't know what else to do right now!_" Cloud heard the teen take a deep breath, as if to steel himself for what he was about to say, "_It's just…Do you know where Squall is?_"

Cloud would've liked to ask why Sora was asking about it but he couldn't bring himself to interrogate the younger Leonhart brother. After all the time Cloud had ended up spending with the teen, he liked the kid too much to play any mind games with him. Especially not when he already sounded so shaken up. It was clear that Sora at least knew that Leon was up to something and that something had gone wrong. Taking a deep breath himself, Cloud leaned back into his couch, "You could say that…"

Instead of the cry of dismay Cloud had been expecting, his words were answered by a huge sigh of relief, "_Really? You do know where he is? He's alright, right?_"

"He's fine now. Now slow down, Sora. Why would you think something's wrong?"

His question caused a hush to fall over the line for a long moment before he heard Sora speak back up, the boy's voice hesitant, "_Well, it's just…_"

"It's okay. You can tell me."

"_It's just that Squall said he'd be home before I woke up. When he didn't show up I was afraid that something bad had happened and I guess I sort of freaked out a bit. He's never not kept his word to me like that before. I promised I wouldn't call you, but I figured if anyone knew where he was, you might, since you have that GPS tracker on him_."

Cloud blinked in surprise then realized that of course Sora would know about the tracking anklet. He was bound to have noticed and asked Leon about it years ago. "Yeah. He's, well…" How do you explain to a seventeen year old that their older brother has been arrested? "Leon's in some trouble."

"_But he's okay, right? He's not hurt?_"

"No, he's not too badly hurt. But, Sora, Leon is in Twilight Town and has been arrested."

"_Oh, thank god. I thought he had been, hurt._" It was amazing how the teen could see such a precarious situation in such a bright light. But it made Cloud wonder if Sora really understood the gravity of it all. "_And_…_Riku, and Zexion…are they…?_"

Once again, Cloud could only guess about how much the kid really knew. "They're here too, in the same mess as Leon. Sora, Leon won't be coming home for a while. He could go to jail for what he did."

"_I know, but with everything,_" he heard Sora let out a small, weak laugh, "_with everything that could've gone wrong, to hear that they're okay, anything else that is wrong right now just seems so unimportant, you know?_"

Cloud actually didn't know what the teen meant by that. While it was obviously a plus that none of them had been hurt, their way of life, if not their lives, was still on the line. He wasn't sure yet what the crime scene techs would bring back as evidence from the scene from last night, but if any of it indicated that those three had been back in business they would be looking at some serious jail time. Cloud didn't, however, have the heart to say any of this to Sora. The kid sounded so relieved right now and he seemed to understand the situation—even if he wasn't reacting to it quite as Cloud had expected. So what would be the point? "For now, I suppose you're right." As a picture of the old health clinic flashed onto the morning news, a thought struck him, "Sora, where are you calling from?" He hadn't been using his cell phone or the Leonhart house phone since Cloud's caller ID hadn't recognized the number.

"_From Cid's place._"

"Cid? Who's Cid?"

"_Cid, Squall's boss._" Right. Cid Highwind. Cloud had run into the man a few times when he picked Leon up from his work on the weekends when he came to check up on Leon in Traverse Town. "_Squall—when he left he told me that if anything, happened, I should call Cid._"

That was probably the smartest thing Leon had done all day. Not that Sora wasn't capable of taking care of himself, but with everything that was going on and the Organization running around it was better not to take any chances. From the short encounters he had had with Cid, the man seemed as if he would be able to take care of Sora well enough until they could figure out something better. But, just to make sure… "Sora, is Cid there now?"

"_Yeah, he's just starting to open the shop_."

"Give him the phone for a minute then."

"_What do you want to talk with him about_?"

The curiosity in Sora's voice was innocent enough and Cloud had to remind himself not to reveal too much. He didn't want to freak him out over something that might not happen and—if he was anything like his older brother—he bet that Sora would be perceptive enough to catch any bits of information he let slip out, "Just logistics. And to work out the legal matters of Cid acting as your guardian while Leon's in custody."

"…_Alright. Um, just a second, I'll go find him_."

There were a few minutes of muffled sounds as Sora undoubtedly ran off to look for the scruffy shop owner. Cloud used the intermission to take a few quick bites of his breakfast and had just swallowed when a gruff voice came back over the line. "_Hello? Who the hell is this? The kid just shoved this damn phone into my hands, said something about a detective, then ran off!_"

Despite everything, Cloud couldn't help it as the most subtle of smiles spread across his face. There was always something strangely amusing about talking to Cid. But back to business, "Cid Highwind, my name is Detective Cloud Strife of the Twilight Town Police Department. I heard that you agreed to watch Sora for a while?"

"_It's not like the kid gave me much of a choice! Just showed up on my doorsteps practically crying and tellin' me that Squall was in trouble. God dammit, Leon causes me more headaches than the tax collectors—Anyway, what's it to you?_"

For all of Cid's blustering, even Cloud knew that the man had a fondness for Leon. "I already informed Sora of this, but Leon has been placed into custody by the Twilight Town PD."

"_What? What for?_"

"—We're trying to figure that out. But I wanted to talk to you and make sure that you're willing to continue to look after Sora until more suitable arrangements can be made."

A heavy sigh hit Cloud's ear before Cid's voice grumbled, "_I won't go and kick him onto the street or nothin' like that…though dependin' on how long we're talkin' he might have to start helpin' out around here._"

"I'm sure Sora would be willing to do some chores, and if money's an issue I can see that you're recompensated—"

"_Ah, hell, I don't need yer money. I'm not so broke that I can't keep a kid around fer a few days._"

"Alright. There is, one more thing I wanted to mention." Cloud paused for a moment, trying to arrange his words properly in his head before he said them. Once again, he wasn't sure how much Cid knew about Leon's situation, so he would have to be careful in gauging the other's reaction in order to not complicate things. "Before you hired him, Leon hasn't always engaged in…legal activities, and made some pretty bad enemies."

As Cloud paused again, Cid filled it, the man's voice surprisingly serious, "_Y'all are talkin' about the Organization, aren't ya?_"

"Yeah." So Cid knew at least that much. That was good. "It looks like the Organization is starting to make a comeback. They might have been involved in the whole mess Leon's in right now, but we're not sure yet. Either way, aside from simply watching over Sora…someone might come looking for him. He's might need to be protected. If you're not comfortable with doing that, I can call over to the Traverse Town PD and have them—"

Cid cut him off before Cloud could even finish, "_I don't need yer money, and I certainly don't need yer protection. I haven't served ten years in the goddamn Airforce for nothin'! There ain't a plane I can't fly and there's certainly ain't no lowlife, two-bit gangster I can't beat down, even if I'm a bit out of practice…_"

That brought a smirk to Cloud's lips. From anyone else, he would've called that senseless bragging, but Cid seemed like the kind of guy who could actually back up his words with action. "It sounds like Sora is in good hands then. Thank you. I'll call again when I have any news about Leon."

"_Hmph, you do that. Leon's a good kid. He's made some bad choices, but he's got a good head on his shoulders. Whatever he's gotten himself into, you get him out of it._"

"…I'll try."

Ending the call, Cloud stared down at his phone for a moment longer before tossing the cell onto the sofa cushion beside him and unmuting the TV. He hadn't lied. He would do whatever he could for Leon, but if the evidence said that he had committed a crime then there was really nothing Cloud could do for him. He could only follow where the evidence led him, could only tell the truth as he knew it, could only do what he knew what lawfully right…and if anything expected him to do anything different they were out of luck.

OoOoO

The clock tower had just struck seven when Cloud pulled into the Twilight Town Police station. Seeing that Axel's car was already in the parking lot, he quickly made his way up the stairs and into the building, heading straight back to his office.

As he had expected, Cloud found Axel sitting at his desk, the redhead staring through his glasses down at a pile of photographs scattered across his desktop. Having glanced up at his arrival, Axel looked back down as he waved Cloud over, "The crime scene techs just sent in copies of their pictures. How'd you sleep, by the way?"

"How do you think?"

"Considering you still look like shit, not that good. Anyway, I figure we'd better go over these before we interview those guys."

Cloud nodded as he dropped his jacket and briefcase off at his own desk, "Did you hear if they found anything else at the crime scene after we left?"

"Nothing too interesting." Axel's voice was mumbled as he continued to flip through the pictures, almost as if he was speaking to himself, "It looks like our guys entered in through the front while the others entered through the back coming from the side of the building. They say they found traces of tire marks back there that don't match Zexion, Riku, and Leon's van, so another car, probably a larger vehicle, was there at some point and peeled out pretty quick. They found the van, by the way, it was parked around a corner."

A moment later, Axel set the photos down and slipped his glasses off, his face pulled into a thoughtful frown, "Do you think that they could've gone in unarmed?"

Sitting down in his chair, Cloud popped open his briefcase with a sigh, "I thought that might've been the case at first too, but on my walk through, I found this…" Reaching into the case, he pulled out a large plastic bag, Leon's gun resting inside it. Axel leaned over and snatched the bag from him as Cloud continued, "I picked it up and forgot about it. I found it again when I was changing last night and went ahead and checked it for prints."

"Get anything?"

"Nothing. Either someone wiped it down or Leon was wearing gloves."

With another sigh, Axel filled in the rest, "And since the preliminary reports are showing that there weren't any signs of any bullets coming from a handgun being on the scene it's pretty much turning into a useless find…"

"Except that _we_ know that Leon at least went in armed."

"And you can bet that if Leon was packing, so, at least, was Riku. Zexion I'm not sure about, but with Riku it's pretty much a given."

Looking over, Cloud met Axel's eyes and found the redhead's green gaze reflecting the same trepidation he felt in his heart. It seemed that neither of them really wanted to do this interview. But, it had to be done. Making the first move, Cloud slowly stood up and took a moment to stretch before turning back to Axel, "We might as well get this over with…"

"Yeah, but we haven't even written out a set of questions yet."

"At this point, I don't think it would really matter. We both know that the moment we get started, they're going to take control over the interrogation anyway."

"Well, you got me there." Standing, Axel walked over and joined Cloud at their office door, "If you want to round them up, I'll get an interrogation room ready."

"Sounds good."

Stepping out, the two detectives split off to fulfill their self-assigned duties. It didn't take long for Cloud to convince Leon, Zexion, and Riku to come along with him. The three had been handcuffed and put in separate holding cells for the night and, though it used up all the available space to keep offenders in their small precinct, it was worth it because it kept them from talking to each other and working out a fake cover story. Leon, it seemed, still wasn't talking to him, the ex-SeeD remaining unwaveringly stoic as he was herded down the hall. Zexion was silent as well, though he seemed to be more grudging about it and Riku spent the entire walk complaining about the poor accommodations. Luckily Cloud was able to tune him out before he knocked the assassin out and was unable to get a statement from him.

When they reached the interrogation room, Cloud maneuvered all three of their suspects inside before he took a seat next to Axel. His partner had already placed a tape recorder in the center of the table which the redhead switched on as soon as everyone was seated, "This is Detective Axel Flynn and Detective Cloud Strife of TTPD interviewing Riku Shima, Ienzo 'Zexion' Corazza, and Squall 'Leon' Leonhart. Again."

Riku rolled his eyes from across the table at the comment and Zexion slouched a bit in his seat, a sour frown on the shorter man's face. As Leon, however, once again failed to respond, Cloud leveled his gaze on the soldier as he spoke, "You three were picked up last night at a call the station received about a shooting and were found inside a privately owned building fighting with a large group of armed men. This would be a good time to start telling us what you were doing there."

Leon met his gaze and opened his mouth, about to actually speak when Zexion broke in, "Oh, so now would be the appropriate time to tell you what I have been trying to tell you for the passed ten hours or so?"

Leaning forward over the table, Axel frowned, "I'll say this much, now's not a good time to get an attitude, Zexion—"

"On the contrary, I believe it to be the perfect time. We were lured out to Twilight Town by the Organization. They had threatened us and said that we could strike a deal with them if we met them, unarmed, at the location where you found us. When we got in, it turned out that it was a trap designed to silence us. They managed to momentarily subdue us but we managed to free ourselves and were struggling to make our escape at the time when you found us. So you see, we really are the victim here and you virtually kidnapping us and holding us without ensuring our basic legal rights is a violation of our—"

"Cut the crap, Zexion. Everyone here knows that wasn't what happened."

"I assure you, it is."

Axel was right. As convincing as the story had been told, Cloud knew that wasn't what had happened. If he hadn't dealt with any of these three before, he might have bought the story. The dead certain look in Zexion's eyes surely left no room for doubt. But Cloud knew that lying and covering up messes was what Zexion was best at.

Keeping a straight face, Cloud coolly slid his gaze to Riku, "If that's true then, Riku, how did the Organization get in contact with you?"

Riku blinked, obviously not expecting a question to be directly asked of him and Zexion tried to jump in, "Yesterday they—"

"I didn't ask you, Zexion. I asked Riku. So Riku, how did the Organization contact you?"

Riku hid his nervousness well but there was a slight hint of anxiety flashing through his teal eyes that Cloud was only able to catch because of how well he knew the hitman. "Yesterday they sent us a letter saying that if we didn't come, they'd start killing us and anyone we cared about."

Another good lie. Cloud had to wonder if Riku hadn't used the tactic himself once. "Who did they send it to?"

Riku's eyes flickered to the side so fast that the motion almost went unnoticed. Almost. "Leon."

"So Leon got the letter?" As Cloud's eyes moved back to the brunette sitting across from him, he found Leon staring back at him, as if daring him to continue. "And the letter came yesterday?"

Finally, Leon spoke and from his gravely tone Cloud wondered if the other had managed to get any sleep last night. The other sounded as tired as Cloud felt. "That's right."

"And this letter told you to come, unarmed, to the location where you were picked up by the police last night?"

"Yes."

To have Riku and Zexion lie to his face was one thing, it was almost expected, but to have Leon do it to him was…it was frustrating. Deciding to put an end to the charade, Cloud pulled the one piece of evidence he had gathered from the scene and put it on the table. Leon's gun shone sharp metallic under the harsh lighting through the plastic bag as Cloud spoke, "Then why is it that I found this at the clinic last night? This is your gun, isn't it, Leon?"

Leon's face had once again been wiped clean of any sort of tell-tale emotion, the man's stormy grey eyes locked on the firearm as he reluctantly responded, "Yes"

"If the letter said to come unarmed, why didn't you?"

"Because I—was being careful."

"Leon, if you were being careful, you would've made sure that you weren't carrying anything that could've even been mistaken as a weapon. If you really got a letter like that from the Organization, we both know that you would've done exactly what it said, word for word, because otherwise you would've been endangering the one thing you care the most about: Sora. So don't sit here and waste my time telling me things that we all know aren't true."

The room fell silent as Cloud stared right into Leon's eyes. After a long moment, Leon blinked and with one hand reached across the table and shut off the tape recorder. Sensing that he was about to do something rash, Zexion tried to silence him but Leon continued anyway, his gaze never once leaving Cloud's, "You'll just have to make do with that answer."

"Make d—" Cloud's words caught in his throat and he pushed himself up from his seat, "So you're admitting that wasn't what happened?"

"Of course that isn't what happened. But I can't tell you the truth."

Cloud's frustration flared again. "Why not?"

"I don't want you to hear it."

Cloud stared at Leon only a moment longer before he had to break the eye contact. Putting his hands over his face, Cloud slid his fingers up to run through his hair and turned around to face the door, "Good god, I feel like I'm going to snap…"

"And that's our cue that this interview is over." Quickly standing up, Axel grabbed the tape recorder and slipped it into his jacket pocket, "You three are going back into your holding cells until you're ready to start telling us what really happened. That, or until Monday morning."

Cloud's head snapped around, "What happens Monday morning?"

"Ah, I didn't want to tell you yet and stress you out even more but I got an email this morning from the D.A. saying that the city's being pressure to push this through the courts fast to try and hush it up, since we're saying it has something to do with the Organization."

Zexion was the first to reply, mind working things through before Cloud could even process what Axel had said, "Hold on just a moment, that is hardly enough time for us to put together a decent defense!"

"Yeah, well, it's hardly enough time for us to make a decent case against you, so consider us even." Axel was right. Having a court date on Monday morning meant that they only had four days to find out what really happened and put together a solid case against those three. After today, it was obvious that they weren't going to get any kind of confession, so that was going to make it even harder. "Now come on, let's get going. What with your sub-par cooperation, you'll be lucky if we remember to bring you lunch…"

The news brought a scowl to Riku's lips, "We outta sue for maltreatment."

The redhead only rolled his eyes, too used to the silver-haired man to buy into it, "And we'll counter-sue for psychological damage. Get your asses moving."

As Axel waved for the three to file out of the room, Cloud couldn't help himself as his hand reached out at the last second to grab onto Leon's sleeve. Axel caught the motion and raised a brow but Cloud could only shake his head and motion for the other detective to take the others back down to holding. Leon didn't look surprised, but if anything his eyes had become even more guarded as Cloud pulled him back inside the room. For a moment, neither of them spoke, their eyes both drifting down to the handcuffs around Leon's wrists before Cloud found his voice, "If you're not going to be truthful with me about what happened last night, are you at least going to tell me how you know Commander Seifer Almasy from SWAT?"

The question finally sent a jolt of emotion through Squall's eyes which widened a bit. That obviously hadn't been the question he had been expecting, "Almasy?"

"Yeah, where do you know him from."

Leon shifted a bit before he shrugged, "We were in SeeD together. During the time I deserted he was promoted so that when I got back he was my superior officer. I knew he lived in Twilight Town but I didn't know he had gotten a job with SWAT so I was surprised to see him."

All of a sudden Cloud realized what had been bothering him last night. Seifer was right when he had said that Cloud had heard of him through Roxas's stories, but Cloud had heard his name once before too. Two years ago when he was watching Sora while Leon was away at war, Sora had shown him a newspaper article about the SeeD. Seifer Almasy's was the man listed as leading the surge. He had been in the same picture as Leon. It looked like this time Leon was actually telling the truth…Why was this question so easy for him to answer when asking him everything else seemed like torture for the man?

A dry smirk settled on Cloud's face before he forced his face up to look Leon in the eye once more, "It's funny…"

"What is?"

"I remember now. You're right, he was with SeeD. It's funny how you must have been close, the two of you must have lived such similar lives, and yet," Cloud shook his head, "look at how different you turned out." For a moment, he thought he saw Leon wince but it must have just been his imagination. That, and right now he was too drained to care. "He's with SWAT, for gods' sakes, and in a few minutes you'll be sitting in a jail cell. And for a moment, I thought he actually might've been a dirty cop. It's just funny…"

"Cloud—"

Before the other could get another word out, Cloud held up his hand, "You know what, Leon? I don't want to hear it." Taking a long breath, Cloud let it out slowly. He felt like his ribs were constricting around his lungs. "Until you're ready to tell me the truth, I don't want to hear anything else that you have to say."

He watched as Leon swallowed then gave a shallow nod. "…Alright."

Opening the door back up, Cloud found an officer waiting outside the room explaining that Axel had sent him to take Leon back to his cell when they were done. Without a second glance back at the solider, Cloud nodded and allowed the officer to walk him back down the hall. Right now, Cloud wouldn't have wished for it to be any other way.

Only after Leon disappeared around the corner did Cloud feel that he was able to move again. Turning around, Cloud began to walk back towards his office, not stopping to chat as a few off-duty officers tried to catch his attention. Quickly crossing through the main room, he shouldered his door open and headed straight for his desk. Yesterday Axel had said something about Seifer wanting his contact information and that he had given Axel his number for him to call. He didn't understand why, but now that he knew more about him, Cloud couldn't fight back the urge to call him and find out what he had wanted last night. And if Cloud knew Axel at all, the redhead would have probably dropped off the contact information somewhere around—there.

There was a sticky note under a pile of paperwork that a receptionist had dropped off that morning with a phone number scrawled across it in Axel's chicken-scratch handwriting. Sitting down at his desk, Cloud grabbed his cell and punched in the number. He didn't have to wait long, the phone only ringing twice before a voice, no-nonsense and crisp, answered, "_Who is this?_"

Cloud frowned at the brusque greeting, "This is Detective Cloud Strife. Seifer Almasy, correct?"

"_Yeah. Sorry, I didn't recognize the number and didn't expect you to call so soon. It looks like Detective Flynn managed to get my info to you._"

"He also said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"_That's right. About Leonhart. I know the guy and I want to know what kind of shit he's gotten himself into._"

Cloud's jaw tightened. "Leon already told me you were in SeeD together. As for what he's gotten himself into, he's dug himself into quite a hole." Cloud hesitated for a minute then realized that, as a squad leader in SWAT, Seifer would have access to most of their police files anyway, so it wouldn't matter, "He's being held here for questioning, along with his accomplices. It turns out his trial date's being pushed forward to early next week."

"_Next week? When next week?_"

"Monday morning."

"_Damn…_" There was a short pause before Seifer's voice jumped back through the line, "_Could I come? Not to testify, just to watch._"

The question stumped Cloud for a moment. It sounded like he was actually concerned over what was happening to Leon. The way Leon had spoken about Seifer earlier had made Cloud think that they hadn't been that close but…maybe he had misinterpreted their relationship. "The courtrooms are technically open to the public. Besides, you're law enforcement, flash a badge and no one would stop you."

"_Alright, I'll be there…What are the chances he'll get jail time for this?_"

Cloud couldn't help it as a mirthless laugh slipped passed his lips, "Honestly, right now, I have no idea. It depends on what evidence turns up, what we learn from it, and who we can get to talk. But, right now…" as much as it made him ill to think about, "right now, we've got nothing on them that a good lawyer couldn't shoot down in court. All three of them, Leon included, will probably walk."

* * *

Before Squall knew what hit him the weekend had passed by and Monday morning had arrived. He, Zexion, and Riku had been stuck in their individual holding cells at the Twilight Town police station for way too long now, but it was better than the alternative – the alternative being sitting in the county jail instead until their court date arrived. A bail amount had been listed but none of the three had been able, or willing, to pay the huge sum of money it would've taken to get out.

Squall didn't really mind the situation, save for the handcuffs and being holed up in such a confined space. At least they had gotten the chance to shower. From where he was sitting, it was also easy to tell how the investigation was going. Cloud never stopped by, or when he did it was just to silently drop off some food and water, and whenever Axel visited he was always in a bad mood. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like that meant things weren't going well for the detectives.

There was one thing, however, he was sure of. Whatever relationship he had or could have had with Cloud was over. He had seen the way the blonde had looked at him when the police stormed into the Organization's attack and again during their interrogation. Those few seconds the detective had shown his true feelings had been fleeting but it had been burned into his memory. The shock. The hurt. The raw look of betrayal. Squall didn't know how many relationships could recover after something liked that, but he didn't think that theirs could. It had been too delicate to begin with and if Cloud no longer felt able to rely on the trust that had been building between the two of them, there would be nothing at all to hold it together.

He hadn't been sleeping well and was awake when a whole troop of beat cops marched down to the holding cell. Eyeing them with a distinct disinterest, Squall rose to his feet as they motioned for him to stand up, "Let's go. Your trial is scheduled in two hours."

Squall waited until they had unlocked the cell before stepping forward. With a glance to the side he saw that Zexion and Riku apparently hadn't slept either that night, both ready and waiting to be let out at the doors of their own cells. One of the police officers, the one who seemed to be in charge, grabbed a hold of Squall's arm, not tight enough to hurt but enough to show that Squall wasn't going anywhere fast, "Alright you three, I don't want any funny business on our way over to the courthouse. Since you've behaved yourselves over the weekend, Detectives Flynn and Strife said that it wouldn't be necessary to take any extra security precautions than what's standard. Try anything and you'll just make things worse for yourself."

Squall's gaze darted down to the pistol and taser-gun holstered on the officer's belt and didn't doubt for a moment that the cop wouldn't hesitate to use them. Zexion seemed to think similarly as the shorter man let out a long-suffering sigh, "Please do not treat us like children. Besides, what use would innocent men have of trying to make a run for it?"

Riku's snort of laughter ruined Zexion's last-ditch attempt at a guiltless façade, which was fine because it didn't look like the officers believed it either. Rolling his eyes, Squall nodded towards the man holding on to him, "We won't cause any trouble." The last thing they needed right now was to pile up any more charges on their way to their trial. Squall wasn't that stupid.

"Let's hope not." Waiting for Zexion and Riku to be pulled out of their cells, the lead officer spoke again after they had each been assigned a personal chaperone, "Now here's how this is going to go down. We're going to take you through the station to a van outside which will drive you directly to the courthouse. There, you will be unloaded by us, walked through the building, and into your assigned courtroom. Any deviation from that plan will be considered as a threat and you will be taken down." Resisting the urge to salute, Squall simply nodded again, Zexion and Riku grudgingly following suit.

Squall couldn't speak for Riku and Zexion, but he for one was on his best behavior during the ride over. Although they weren't quite the innocent men Zexion kept insisting they were, Squall knew that if they chose to run now it wouldn't do them much good. Also, to him the idea of being a fugitive on the run was more distasteful than the thought of being thrown in prison. At least in prison he would have the end of his term to look forward too and, if not that, then he would still be able to get visits from Sora. The experience of trying to hide from the Organization two years ago had taught Squall that he definitely wasn't made for sneaking away with your tail between your legs.

Lost in thought, Squall allowed himself to be hustled along by their law enforcement entourage, only bothering to pay attention again after they had stepped out of the police van and into the courthouse. There was hardly anyone there, which was a bit surprising. Then again, maybe he had just gotten used to the mobs of people that had flocked to his last court appearance…It was definitely better this time around.

As they were marched into their assigned courtroom, Squall and his escort leading the way, he wasn't surprised to see that there were already two familiar faces waiting up at the prosecutor's table. He didn't bother waiting for Cloud to refuse to acknowledge him and quickly took the seat farthest from the two detectives and their lawyer. Squall, Riku, and Zexion's lawyer, some middle-aged, slightly overweight man, was waiting for them as well. He had been appointed by the city once none of them were able to come up with a suitable alternative. Zexion had offered to represent them but Riku and Squall had both insisted that they at least start with a real lawyer and see how things went from there. Zexion was smart, but Squall wasn't about to gamble his freedom on Zexion's questionable knowledge of the court system and Twilight Town law.

Before long, a few people began to trickle in to the seats behind them, a low murmur filling the court as everyone waited for things to begin. The jury box, however, remained empty. After a short group meeting, he, Riku, and Zexion had decided that it would be best if they elected to forgo the jury and have their sentence decided solely by the judge. All three of them knew how easily a jury could be swayed by circumstantial evidence and attacks on personal character, which was all the prosecution was suspected to have against them. At the moment, Cloud, Axel, and their lawyer, who looked much slicker than the one they had been assigned, were leaning over their table almost as if in a huddle. Even from across the room and with the man's back turned, Squall could feel the irritation rolling off of Cloud in waves. He almost felt bad for causing the other that much stress. But not quite.

The three of them had already talked their story over ten times with their own lawyer so the defense's side of the room was nearly silent. Riku was sitting beside Squall and looking decidedly comfortable in his chair and ridiculously put together for a man who had just spent the last four days in lock-up. Zexion appeared to be a little more appropriately ruffled, a strand of hair or two askew as he diligently sorted through their lawyer's notes to check for errors. As for himself, Squall was just happy he hadn't seen a mirror in the last twenty-four hours. He had gotten the chance to shower and shave but he didn't exactly feel like he was looking his best. It probably didn't help that he hadn't changed out of the clothes he was wearing now for a little over half a week.

Squall was just about to ask Zexion to pass some of their lawyer's notes down, just so that he would have something to read, when a side door in the front of the room opened and the judge finally stepped out, followed closely by a bailiff, "All rise for the honorable Judge Peters."

Pushing himself up to his feet, Squall stood up along with the rest of the court as the judge made his way up his podium. He looked a little young for a judge, maybe in his mid-thirties, but was otherwise relatively average in appearance. As the man's eyes scanned the crowd though Squall found the judge's gaze lingering on them in a way that made his shoulders tense up. It wasn't so much that the man had taken an extra moment to give them a once over—they weren't exactly normal looking defendants—but it was the way he had looked at them.

It had been piercing. A condemning look.

The next hour or so passed as a blur. Squall had no real interest in the legal system, despite how many times he went against it. All that he cared about where the results. As he had anticipated from Cloud's composure before the trial even started, the prosecution didn't have much to go on, though they were clearly trying to milk every bit of evidence they had been able to gather. They pointed out the injured men and the bullet holes in the walls, and the fact that they must have broken into the building, and brought both Cloud and Axel up onto the stand to give theory after baseless theory about what happened. Some of them actually came pretty close to reality, but he wasn't about to admit it. The only thing that really caught Squall's attention was that they obviously hadn't found the hidden door. For once he was thankful that the Organization managed to cover their tracks so well. If the police had found that crypt they would've gotten life in prison in a heartbeat.

As soon as the prosecution rested, their lawyer stood up and got to work. Despite being a simple city-appointed representative, the man did his job well and instantly began to tear apart everything that had just been presented. No weapons had been found on any of them at the time of the arrest and there was apparently no way that the evidence could place Squall's pistol in any of their hands at any point during the night. They were simply just victims of a murderous Organization plot. He called Zexion up to testify and the schemer had flawlessly recited the entire story they had fed the detectives the first time they had been interviewed. If Squall hadn't actually been a part of the hit, he probably would've believed Zexion himself. There wasn't, their lawyer continued, even any evidence that they had broken into the clinic in the first place. That was thanks to Riku's lock-picking skills. Another thing he wasn't about to say out loud.

Squall heard the door of the courtroom open and close again but didn't turn around to see who had come in or left. He didn't want to take his eyes off of the judge for a minute as their lawyer rattled on. Squall was once again entranced by the man's eyes. Not in the good way either, like how Cloud's gaze could get to him, but in the way that made him feel on edge and disturbingly vulnerable. Even more troubling was that, beside him, Riku seemed to be picking up on it as well. Something was bothering the hitman anyway; the silver-haired man had slowly stiffened up in his seat, clearly uncomfortable about something.

By the time their lawyer was finished though the outcome of the trial seemed fairly obvious. On the other side of the room Cloud was practically sulking, his head propped up on his hand as he slouched over the table. Axel looked just as unhappy but more resigned, his arms crossed behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. Squall was pretty sure he would've had his feet up on the table if they hadn't been in court.

Squall wished that that could be more a comfort but as the judge announced that he had made a final ruling on the matter if anything his anxiety had only increased.

Clearing his throat, the judge cleared his throat as he straightened up to look out over the courtroom, "I have reached my decision. From the evidence and testimonials presented to me today, it is clear to me what must happen in order to fulfill my duties as a servant of the law." Squall's mouth tightened into a hard line as the judge's cold gaze landed back on them, "Through the prosecution's description of the events and the information I received prior to the trial, one thing can be said for certain. All three defendants, who two years ago were brought into court on charges of grand larceny, have clearly broken their probational contracts with their parole officers." If he had looked to his side, Squall was pretty sure that Zexion's jaw had just about hit the floor but his eyes were glued to the man sitting in front of him, "Considering the circumstances, I'm ruling in favor of the city and sentence each of the defendants to one year in the county penitentiary."

The judge had barely got his mouth closed when all three of them plus their lawyer were on their feet. However, Squall was shocked when the first shout of protest didn't come from the defense's table but from the prosecution's.

"_What—?" _

OoOoOo

"—That's ridiculous!"

Before Leon and the other had even stood up, Cloud had sprung up out of his chair, palms slamming down on the table in front of him, "Jail time for a first-time probation offense?"

Cloud could feel every eye on the courtroom turn on him but he didn't care as Judge Peters turned to face him, "Detective Strife, I suggest you take your seat unless you want me to hold you in contempt of court. I would have thought that you would have appreciated my ruling, considering it was in your favor."

Bullshit! Cloud grit his teeth to keep the word from spitting out into the open. He should've been happy, it was true, but he knew that they had lost their case the moment the trial had started. Every piece of evidence they introduced was absolutely ripped to shreds by the defense attorney, as it should've been. Their case had been so full of holes that it was practically transparent. There was no way they should've won anything! And as far as the probation offense was concerned, it was true that Leon, Riku, and Zexion had all violated their restrictions—as one of their parole officers, he would know—but first time offenses like that had never warranted jail time. Maybe a heavy fine, another year of probation or community service, but certainly not a full year's jail sentence.

There was definitely something funny going on and Cloud wasn't going to stand for it. Not in his justice system. "With all due respect, Judge Peters, the time doesn't exactly seem to fit the crime!"

"Enough!" Cloud was silenced by a quick slam of the gavel, "I've made my decision. If you disapprove, Detective Strife, you can file a complaint upstairs. This court is dismissed."

He felt Axel reach a hand up to steady him as the judge got up out of his chair and disappeared back out through the side door he had entered through. "I _am_ going to file a complaint. I'm going to file a damned mistrial-!"

"—Detective Strife." Cloud's tirade was interrupted and he looked over to find that Leon, Zexion, and Riku were being pulled to their feet. It had been Zexion who had spoken and, seeing that he had the detective's attention, the man continued, "Just what is going on?"

"I don't know. You all got the jail time you deserve, but for the wrong reason."

"And what do you plan to do about it?"

"I…" Axel's hand had slipped off of his arm as Cloud looked up again and scanned over their faces, his eyes coming to rest on Leon's face. It would be so easy just to turn his back on this and let it happen. After all, this is what he wanted, right? For all three of them to be put behind bars?

But not like this. Not under such suspicious circumstances. How could he pretend to be in the right when something underhanded was so obviously at work? Giving a small nod, Cloud's gaze locked firmly with Leon's for the first time in days, "I'll figure it out."

A faint light seemed to spark in Leon's eyes and he nodded back just before the officer guarding him gave him a nudge to keep walking. Cloud stood, frozen, as all three were ushered back through the courtroom towards the exit, the dwindling crowd abuzz with excitement as the front of the room remained shocked into silence.

Hearing Axel come back to life and start to gather together paperwork, Cloud was about to shake himself off and help out when a hand suddenly clamped down on his forearm. Nearly jumping a foot into the air, Cloud almost lost his balance as he was spun around, "Strife!"

Regaining his composure, Cloud suddenly found himself face to face with a rather ticked-off looking Seifer Almasy. He had seen the SWAT slip in halfway through the trial but hadn't realized that he had stuck around after it had ended. "What?"

"You said Leon wouldn't be put in jail! What the hell was that then?"

There was a moment's pause before Cloud straightened his shoulders and stared right back at the other man, resolve strengthening as he felt Axel getting to his feet behind him. "I don't know what that was, but we're going to go find out."


	8. Chapter 8

Another chapter out! ^_^ The weather here in ol' NorCal is finally getting back to normal, of course just in time for my sister and I to suffer in our black caps and gowns. Hello, high ninety degree weather. Hello, farmer's tan. And hello A/C. I missed you. Sort of.

Big, humungous thanks go out to all the awesome dudes who reviewed the last chapter: FuzzyLion, Clockwork Phoenix, ChaosGarden, ramen-is-my-goddess, RkM4U, Shinimegami7, Tsubasa-Faye, Dragi, nearcreature, Bane-Dane, YumiStar, Aindel S. Druida, Mirror and Darkling, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, r a a i n, Arid Tundra, Becca86, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, , chibi heishi, RAWR, Ashlan, Twilight Emo Wind Goddess 801, Reno-is-a-Turk, xacilia, mello-jeevas, and Fried Chicken! You all are what keep me writing when writer's block tries to keep me down. ;)

O

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

As soon as Leon, Zexion, and Riku were removed from the room, Cloud jumped into action. Leaving Seifer standing in the courtroom aisle, the blonde detective hurried back over to his partner, "Axel, something's wrong here."

"Ya think?" Axel shook his head as he haphazardly stuffed the last of their paperwork into his briefcase, "There was no way that was a good ruling."

Meeting the redhead's green gaze, Cloud's mouth tightened, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking that something stinks of an Organization payoff, then yeah."

"I'm glad to see we're on the same page. But it's strange…" Cloud's voice trailed off as his eyes drifted up to the empty judge's bench, "I've heard of Judge Peter's before, I think he's even tried some of my cases before, and I've never caught wind of any rumors of him being involved with the Organization."

Axel responded with a shrug, "Even honest men can get wrapped up in bad shit. Or maybe he's just been really subtle about hiding it before. Either way, he's made his position pretty clear."

"We have to file for a mistrial and see if we can't get their sentences reversed!"

There was a moment of silence as Axel stared down at the blonde. Wondering what he had said wrong, Cloud thought back on his words but any realization was cut off by a soft question, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Am I sure? Yes, I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm just saying that the three of them are going to jail, which is where we nearly gave our lives two years ago to put them." As Cloud opened his mouth to protest, Axel stopped him with a quick wave of his hand, "Sure, it's for a lame-ass reason, but jail time is jail time. Maybe, I dunno, maybe they'll change or something. See the light. Become better people. They'll certainly have the time to think about what they did."

It was a valid point and one that hadn't escaped Cloud. But, just as it did earlier, his conscience rebelled over the idea that an injustice had been done. With a sigh, Cloud looked back up at Axel's face, "As much as I would like to think that, we both know that the chances of any of them being permanently rehabilitated in a single year is slim to none. And even if there was a chance that it _could _happen, I just can't stand by and watch as three people, innocent or not, are carted off to prison for the wrong reason. I didn't become a police officer just to let something like that happen under my watch."

At Cloud's words, a small smile flickered onto Axel's face, "I figured you say something like that. I just had to check that you had considered all of your options here."

"Why? What's your opinion about the matter?"

"Me?" Axel shrugged again, "The way I figure it, it's what they deserve, but this is definitely not the right way to go about it. Besides, we can't let them have all the fun in fighting the Organization. If they think that we'll stand by and just let them take over the city than we'll just have to prove them wrong, legally of course. So if you want to file a mistrial, you know I've got your back."

Cloud had to smile, just a bit, as Axel shot him a wink. It was times like these that made him thankful that after what happened two years ago he was still able to keep his partner. As annoying as the redhead could be, he definitely made up for it eventually. "Alright. I'll hold you to that then. To start it off, one of us should run back to the station to look up everything we can on Judge Peters while the other starts working on filling out the right paperwork here at the courthouse."

"Well both those options just sound like so much fun I can barely contain myself. But out of the two, I'll pick the research and leave you to the pencil-pushing."

Cloud's smile fell into a dry smirk, "I thought you said you had my back?"

"And I do, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna do all the dirty work. Besides, out of the two of us, you have more patience. After being asked for my signature more than twice on a document, I always get the urge to light the paper I'm looking at on fire."

"I'll take your word on that. Anyway, look for anything that can connect Judge Peters to the Organization. Also, find out exactly what information was sent to him before the trial about the case. If we can catch him in a lie about what he knows, then it'll be easier to file for a mistrial. Come back as soon as you find anything so I can submit it with whatever documents I'll have to turn in."

"Right. I'd better get going then."

With a nod, the two split up, Axel heading back out towards the entrance with Cloud following only as far as the front desk. Glancing back at the redhead as he hurried out through the front door of the courthouse, Cloud refocused his attention on the receptionist after his partner made it outside. The woman behind the desk gave him a polite nod, probably having recognized him as a member of law enforcement from his various trips to the courthouse, "Hello, how may I help you?"

Cloud gave her his best empathy-inducing smile in return, "Good morning. My name is Cloud Strife, I'm a detective with the Twilight Town Police Department and was just in Courtroom Six working on a trial. However, I had some problems with the proceedings. Where do I need to go to file for a mistrial?"

The question flushed some of the color out of the girl's face, "A mistrial? Oh, um, your best bet would probably be Administration, up on floor two."

"Thank you."

Smile dropping as soon as he stepped away from the desk, Cloud's lips drew into a stoic frown as he quickly found the staircase and made his way up to the second story of the courthouse. It didn't take long to find Administration, which turned out to be a bunch of offices packed together, a secretary sitting at another desk to field visitors. Cloud walked right up to him, startling the man from his computer screen, "Excuse me, I'm Detective Cloud Strife from Twilight Town PD and I was told downstairs that I could find the paperwork needed to file for a mistrial here."

The man blinked once before rolling his chair over to a small filing cabinet, "That's right. Just a minute, detective, this will take a second to find. We haven't had anyone file for a mistrial in years…the documents got themselves buried a bit…Ah, here they are." With a small grunt, the man freed a sheaf of papers from the back of the drawer. Rolling his chair back over to his desk, he passed the paperwork over to Cloud, "That's what you'll be needing to fill out. If I remember right, it'll probably take you a while so you're free to take a seat while you work."

He motioned back behind Cloud and the blonde glanced over his shoulder to see a row of uncomfortable looking chairs pushed up against the wall. "Thanks."

The secretary nodded but before Cloud could turn away a curious frown slipped onto the man's face, "Just what are you filing a mistrial for anyway?"

Cloud hesitated for a minute. He didn't want any rumors of court officials being on the Organization's payroll spreading around before he was ready to deal with them. "...The case Judge Peters made a ruling on just a few minutes ago."

"Oh. Were you part of it?"

"I was with the prosecution."

"And things didn't go the way you think they should've?"

"You could say that."

"That's a bit strange. It was a criminal trial, right? Usually, Judge Peters usually rules pretty consistently with the prosecution on cases like that. He's known for being a bit of a hard-ass, pardon the language."

Cloud frowned, "He did side with the prosecution."

"Really? Then what's the problem?"

Tired of the man's questioning, innocent enough though it was, Cloud turned around and headed back towards the row of chairs, "I'm afraid that's momentarily confidential. Thank you for the documents, but I should probably get to work filling them out."

"Oh, right! Sorry."

Taking a seat as the secretary got back to his computer screen, Cloud was finally able to take a look at the papers in his hand. Doing so really didn't make him feel any better though. The packet was only about twelve pages thick but it was stuffed full of blank boxes that needed to be filled and dense legalese. Damn. He should've volunteered to go back to the station to do research. Then again, there was no way Axel would've had the patience to do this, so maybe it was better this way after all.

An hour later found Cloud in exactly the same spot, hunched over the papers in his lap with a scowl on his face. This was ridiculous, how many times were they going to ask him for his identification information? He was almost at the end, but that didn't mean that progress was going any faster. At the moment he was stuck on a block of eight point font text that filled up nearly half a page written with so many legal terms packed together that it was like reading a different language. Just as he was scanning over the words again to check that by his signing the page he wasn't signing his first born son or his right arm over to the government, his cell phone rang in his pocket and startled him out of his focus.

The secretary glanced up with an annoyed look but Cloud ignored it and flipped his phone open, "Hello?"

"_Hey, it's me_."

"Roxas? How are you? Is something wrong?"

"_No, I'm fine. Well, better than I've been for the last week or so. I'm actually being discharged from the hospital, so if you or Axel could—_"

"Sorry, Rox. We're both tied up right now."

"_With what? The trial was today, right? Did something go wrong? The last time we talked, Axel said he was pretty sure that they were going to be let off._"

Cloud glanced up at the man at the desk across the room from him. He wasn't looking his way, but Cloud could still tell that the man was listening in. "I'll tell you later."

"_You'd better._ _Anyway, I'm being discharged, but they said they need someone to come in and take me home. They're refusing to let me leave by myself, even after I said I'd take the bus. Something about liabilities…_"

Sighing, Cloud looked down at his watch, "All I can tell you is that if you want Axel or me to come get you, you'll probably have to wait another few hours. Do you know anyone else who could come get you?"

"_No, my friends are all at work—Wait. I think today's Hayner's day off._"

"Why don't you give him a call then and ask him if he can give you a ride back to your apartment? Sorry about this, but something's come up."

"_What's new? As long as you guys tell me what's going on later, I guess I can forgive you._"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Good to hear. Call me when you get back to your apartment, alright?"

"_Yes, mother._"

"Shut up, Rox."

He heard his brother laugh through the phone line, "_Fine. I'll call you later, and you'd better have an explanation ready. Bye!_"

"Bye."

* * *

Squall frowned as the guard's grip on his arm tightened a bit as they were led from the courtroom and into the main lobby then down a flight of stairs. He had been hoping that they would've been taken back to the police station so he could try and get a few more words in with Cloud, but it looked like the courthouse had its own criminal processing center in the basement. With his luck, it figured that was the case. His only consolation now was that Cloud seemed to be back on their side again. Well, maybe not on their side, but certainly against their sentence.

From behind Zexion continued his silence while Squall could hear Riku complaining about something or another. It was a little hard to pay attention to the hitman when they were being escorted by police officers.

As they were marched up to a desk, the officer holding onto him nodded to the man sitting behind it, "Three prisoners for processing."

"Right. Let's start with prints then."

Squall grimaced but didn't pull away as the guard grabbed his wrist and pressed his hands to a digital fingerprint scanner. Seeing him eye the machine, the police officer smiled mirthlessly, "Nice, huh? We're still trying to buy one for the station. Not only is it more high tech than the old paper and ink method, but it immediately enters your information and fingerprints into the national database. There's no lag time and no way for paperwork to go missing."

The only reply the man got from Squall was a small grunt. He wasn't exactly in the mood for small talk.

His mood didn't improve as he was led away from the desk, had what must've been the most unflattering photo of his life taken with a numbered sign in his hands, then had an orange jumpsuit shoved into his arms. Even seeing Riku and Zexion in matching neon orange jumpsuits didn't bring a smirk to Squall's face as it usually would as he walked out of his temporary changing room. The handcuffs on his wrists canceled out any amusement he might have gotten from the situation.

One of their guards had slipped upstairs for a moment and since Squall, Zexion, and Riku had been booked and changed into their prisoner garb before he could return, there were only two officers watching the three of them as they were walked out through a back door in the room. Following the lead officer up a flight of stairs, Squall realized that they were being led outside. At the top of the stairs there was a security door with bright sunlight streaming in through the small window. Watching as the guard in front reached out to swipe an access card to open the door, Squall had to fight back a swell of adrenaline as the door swung open to reveal a parking lot.

If there was ever a perfect time to try and escape, it would be now. One guard was already missing which meant that the three of them outnumbered their escort. They were cuffed, but it wouldn't be that hard to overpower the police officers and take their weapons, steal a car, and just take off. Seeing that they were being led toward an armored prison vehicle, Squall knew that once they got inside it would be over. And yet…

Just like before, the thought of being a fugitive on the run made his stomach turn. A year in prison wouldn't be as bad as that. And if Cloud's expression was anything to go by, the blonde would be fighting to have that sentence reduced. From Cloud's shock in court, Squall had a strong suspicion that the Organization had interfered with the Judge's ruling and had probably been the source of their sentence.

If the Organization wanted them in jail for a year, then fine. Squall would do it if it made the Organization think that they had gained a victory over them. Jail time was a lot better than the Organization's usual alternative. Maybe then when they got out they would be left alone. Maybe, if he went, they would leave Sora alone. Squall wouldn't have to worry about his brother walking to the grocery store or going out to play with his friends. Maybe this way Sora would be safe.

As they reached the prison van Squall knew that any chance they might have had to escape was over anyway when the third guard joined them again, three cups of coffee in his hands. Squall saw Riku raise a brow but the police officer was shaking his head before the silver-haired man could even speak, "Don't even think about it." Smirking, the guard passed two cups to his fellow officers as they opened up the back of the van, "We're going to need this more than you three."

The head officer motioned with his head for Squall to climb into the van. Squall obliged and stepped up into the back, ducking his head so he wouldn't hit it on the ceiling before taking a seat and clumsily fastening one of the seatbelts over his lap. The back of the van was empty save for two metal benches built into the inside walls and a small video camera mounted on the wall separating the cab from the back of the vehicle, undoubtedly put there to discourage any foul play on their way to jail.

Once Riku and Zexion had followed him in, the officer turned back to the third, "What took you so long in there, Thomas?"

The younger cop glanced up at the three prisoners in the back and Squall refocused on the officers' conversation, "I was caught up in some talk. Apparently one of the detectives from the trial went upstairs saying that he was going to file for a mistrial."

Zexion, it seemed, had been eavesdropping as well, "Does this mean that we do not have to go to prison?"

At his voice the lead officer looked back at them, "No, you're still going to jail. But it means that if you're lucky, you won't be there for very long. Now," turning back to face the other two cops, the man smiled wryly, "who wants to ride in the back with the convicts?"

In the end the second cop, a tall, muscular guy who hadn't said so much as a single word to any of them all day, volunteered to sit in the back with Squall, Riku, and Zexion in order to keep them under control. It was probably a good choice by the officers. Squall wasn't exactly intimidated by the man but he was more daunting than the other two would've been as he slowly took a sip of his coffee.

It didn't, however, stop the three from talking.

Ignoring the police officer sitting directly to his right, Zexion pursed his lips, "So this is a fine mess we have gotten into."

Eyeing the cop, Squall reluctantly answered back. As long as they didn't say anything to obviously incriminate themselves, they would be fine. And it would be really nice to actually talk through some of the things that had happened. "I'm guessing you think the Judge was dirty too?"

Zexion frowned thoughtfully, "His forehead might as well have been stamped with 'Property of the Organization'. There is no other way that our defense would have lost the case otherwise. Even with our lackluster representation, we had done a good enough job to warrant a 'not guilty' verdict. Luckily it seems that our friendly neighborhood detectives managed to sense it as well."

"They're not totally oblivious, you know."

"No, not all the time. I must admit though that even I was caught a bit off guard by these recent events. I had not expected that we would once again find ourselves with enemies on both sides of the law and had not counted on actually being put in jail."

"This is better than whatever the Organization had planned for us back at the health clinic."

"I suppose…although I think that it is clear to all of us that we are not quite free from the Organization's influence yet."

Riku huffed and crossed his arms as much as he could with his hands cuffed together. "I doubt that even they have too much say about what goes on in the prisons. Sure, they might have a few guys on the inside, but I mean, really, what can they do?"

Zexion narrowed his eyes, "They could kill us. It is clear to me now, looking back on everything, that Marluxia must have been the one to call in the police. The neighborhood is otherwise mostly filled with abandoned buildings and those who do live there are undoubtedly tied to the Organization. I am not yet sure why Marluxia would stoop so low as to call in the authorities but in prison it is not unheard of for a convict to be attacked by his fellow inmates. We should seriously consider it as a possible motive."

"Yeah, but with what kind of weapons would they try and get us with? A homemade shank? Unless the entire cell block comes after us, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to handle it. Then again," A small smirk spread across Riku's pale lips, "you'll have to watch your back, Zexion. You know what happens to guys like you in jail, huh?"

Squall watched as the smaller man glowered back. Now that he thought about it, Zexion was a bit feminine in appearance, his skinny frame and the fact that he was practically drowning in the orange one-size-fits-all jumpsuit he was wearing not helping to boost his masculinity. "Thank you for reminding me. And you, Riku, have little right to talk. Honestly, your hair is pulled back into a ponytail."

Before the conversation could devolve any further, Squall interrupted, "I have a feeling both of you will be able to handle yourselves just fine. Anyway, what are we going to do now?"

With one last glare at Riku, Zexion straightened up, all three of them keenly aware of the officer's presence again. "There is not much we can do, is there? We will have to simply wait for someone else to make the first move, whether it be the Organization or the detectives. I am not sure how long the process of claiming a mistrial will take, but I imagine we may not learn about the results of the matter for at least a few weeks, if not months."

Riku frowned, clearly not comfortable with the idea of waiting for something to happen. "So, what do we do in the mean time?"

"Remain on our best behavior. After all," Zexion's eyes shifted over to the guard then back again in an instant, "we have done nothing wrong. We would not want to give anyone any other impression."

Groaning, Riku leaned his head back to rest against the metal wall of the van. "I am sick and tired of doing nothing!"

Squall huffed, "We were almost killed by the Organization a few days ago. That should be enough excitement to last you a while."

"Tch, that was barely a warm up. I've been 'behaving' myself for two years now, I'm tired of it!"

Squall started. Did Riku actually mean that he hadn't been up to anything illegal for two years now? It didn't seem like that could be possible. Riku _lived _to kill people, Squall was pretty sure it was all the silver-haired man knew how to do. It was hard to imagine Riku not being an assassin, not when the other enjoyed it so much. Squall couldn't think of one reason why the other would be willing to dig up enough self-control to put that pleasure on hold, especially for such a long time.

If Zexion was phased by Riku's statement he didn't show it. "If you truly have been keeping your guns to yourself for the past twenty-four months, another few will not hurt you."

Tilting his head back up, Riku was about to retort when he seemed to remember that they were in mixed company. With a glance at the burly cop sitting next to Zexion, he replied instead simply with a glare and a silence fell between the three.

A few more minutes passed and the rhythmic jostling as the prisoner van made its way through city streets were threatening to put Squall to sleep. As the tension wore off in his body it was being replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion. He hadn't slept well for days, probably almost a week since his nightmares had kept him from a full night's rest even before their hit attempt.

Stifling a yawn, Squall let his eyes close, his head leaning back against the wall as an uneasy sleep washed over him.

_Hot, dry air rushed into his lungs. _

_For the first time ever, as Squall straightened up and gazed out over the destroyed desert village, he knew it was a dream. Nothing was different—the sounds, the smell—but this time he knew. _

_Instantly he was back in a courtyard—_the _courtyard. He couldn't see the landmine but he knew where it was buried better than he knew the back of his hand. And there, across the square, a figure was stumbling towards him. _

_The figure was covered in dirt and blood, gun held loose and uselessly in their hands as they limped forward. Once again, the phantom was wearing Cloud's face, blue eyes shining out from skin caked in dust and sweat. _

_Instinctively Squall started forward but then, he caught himself. It was a dream. Just a dream. That wasn't Cloud running towards him, the bullets raining down on him weren't real. They were just as fake as the bomb buried in the sand twenty feet away. What if—?_

_What if he didn't run? Would things be different?_

'_Leonhart!'_

_At the shout, Squall turned his head to find Almasy, the man having materialized behind him. The SeeD's helmet was off, his face drawn up into a stern frown, 'Don't go out there, Leon.'_

_Before he could say anything, his attention was torn back towards the courtyard as Cloud's voice echoed across it. 'Leon! Help me!'_

'_Don't.' Turning back to Almasy, Squall's eyes met with his. Seifer's expression never changed, his gaze never leaving Squall's face, 'Don't do it to yourself. Not again.' Releasing his rifle with one hand, Seifer stretched his freed arm out, hand palm up as if waiting for Squall's. 'Come back with me. Everybody's waiting.'_

_He didn't have to look back to know that Cloud was running closer, closer to the bomb. He could feel it. 'I…I can't.'_

'_Let it go. Otherwise it will just tear you apart.'_

_Squall stared at Almasy's outstretched hand. _

'_Leave it, soldier.'_

'_Is that an order?'_

'_It never was.'_

_Frowning, he turned around to watch the Cloud look-alike. He was almost to the bomb now. He had to decide fast. In a few seconds, Cloud's foot would step down onto the hidden land mine. In a few seconds—_

Squall started as he was suddenly jerked back awake by the sharp screeching of tires. The squeal of rubber on asphalt as the driver slammed on the breaks.

The desperate attempt at stopping threw everyone in the back of the van from side to side as the vehicle began to fishtail, the back of the van swerving wildly across the road. It was the only warning they got before, without leaving enough time for him to so much as blink, something slammed into the side of the vehicle and sent them flying.

Squall could hardly remember to breathe as instantly a hot flash of pain swept through his body and the van, as heavy as it was, was sent into a roll. His seatbelt snapped and sent him tumbling off the bench and over himself, Squall losing track of everything else as his head slammed into the metal ceiling, a dark mist filling his vision as his body went limp.

…

Slowly, his senses seeped back into his body. The first thing he was aware of was the stillness. The smell of smoke and burnt rubber. His ears were ringing so badly in the silence left after the deafening crunch of metal that he couldn't hear a thing…He couldn't even move…He could barely think.

Swallowing, Squall tried to orient himself and forced his eyes to open. His chin was down on his chest, his body leaning up against the crumpled wall…no, the ceiling of the van. His vision swam in front of him but he could still make out a growing puddle of red on the front of his orange jumpsuit. It was only then that he noticed that his face felt wet, his splitting headache explained as he saw a trickle of blood slowly roll down the tip of his nose and, after a second, drip down onto the gathering stain on his shirt. But he couldn't even gather the strength to lift his hand to staunch whatever wound was bleeding.

Gaze flickering down, Squall was finally able to focus his vision enough to make out another figure sprawled across his legs. Zexion. With his head turned to the side and bangs covering most of his face, it was impossible to see the other's eyes. A quick sweep over Zexion's body didn't reveal any obvious wounds but the other was definitely unconscious. Or…

No.

He had to be just unconscious.

A low moan to Squall's left cut off his degenerating line of thought. "…S-shit…"

Swallowing again, Squall tried to loosen up his throat enough to speak. Had he screamed, when the van got hit? "…Riku…?"

"Ughn…Leon…Wh-what happened…?"

A deep breath escaped Squall. He couldn't see the hitman, but knowing that he was alive was a good start. Talking though was still a difficult task. His body was slowly beginning to respond to his sluggish brain signals but…his strength had just been completely drained.

Movement down by his feet stopped any response Squall might have found the energy to give. Another sigh of relief left Squall's lips as Zexion's body shuddered back to life. He watched drowsily as the smaller man paused then, ever so slowly, pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

Any further movement was interrupted as a loud bang echoed out from the back of the van before the van doors were forced open, sunlight and voices flooding into the broken vehicle.

"All three are alive."

"Alright. Let's move them out quick, before bystanders call for rescue."

Squall heard boots resonating against metal as men climbed into the van, an angry murmur from Riku filling the empty space, "…Who the hell…? H-hey…get off…!"

About to ask what was wrong, Squall figured it out pretty fast as three men squeezed their way into the far back of the van where he was laying. One picked up Zexion, who looked about as able to resist as a rag doll, while the other two stepped up onto either side of Squall and grabbed his arms. Grunting out in pain as he was hauled to his feet, he was physically unable to fight back, just barely having the energy to stumble forward as they pulled him from the wreck. As they pushed him outside, he got a glance at the cop who had been riding in the back with them. There was a line of blood streaking down from the corner of the man's mouth, his body still as he sat slouched over in the corner. The coffee cup he had been holding was hanging loose in his grip, its contents spilled across the front of his uniform.

Before Squall could tell if the other had passed or not he was carried outside. The sunlight burned his eyes and he had to blink a few times before he was able to realize what had happened.

They were in the middle of an intersection. It looked like a truck had plowed full-speed right into the side of the now overturned prisoner van. Small clouds of black smoke were billowing up from underneath the hoods of both vehicles and through the metallic carnage Squall could just see the two officers slumped over in the cab of the prisoner van. The glass in the windows around them was spiderwebbed with fractures and spattered with blood, making it nearly impossible to see any details inside.

Again, Squall wasn't able to tell if they were alive or dead before he was practically thrown into the back of a second, intact van idling at the curb. Though the van looked similar to the one he had been in seconds ago, the experience was completely changed as, before he could so much as speak, a black fabric bag was pulled over his head, cutting off everything from his sight.

Tensing up, Squall managed a small shout as another body was thrown against him, Zexion, probably by the size of it. His guess was confirmed as Zexion's muffled voice sounded out weakly as someone else, Riku no doubt, was tossed inside to join them, "…What is this about?"

There was a laugh before a forth man climbed into the back. "Take a guess."

Wincing as the back doors to the van slammed shut, Squall barely heard Zexion's reply as the engine started up beneath them. "Guessing…from your…ngh, rather violent method…and the blindfolds…I would have to say you are from the Organization."

"You'd be right. I'm not sure what the higher ups have in mind for you, but I can tell you that all three of you're going to wish you had died in that car crash."

The Organization? Squall's hazy mind tired to process what he was hearing. The Organization had crashed into the van transferring them to prison. But…they had been behind the prison thing in the first place. There was no doubt that the judge had been working for them, so why go to all the trouble of sentencing them in the first place? He still didn't feel quite up to talking but until he knew what was going on, they weren't going to be able to get any sort of control over the situation. "…Why the judge?"

By the tone of the Organization grunt's voice he could tell that the man had stopped smiling. "Thanks to you three, the first plan didn't go down like it was supposed to. We were supposed to take you in then, but you had to go and cause problems. Luckily we had a backup plan and Judge Peters owed us one. As long as you were in police custody, we couldn't get you, but on the transfer we knew it'd be like taking candy from a baby."

"U-using the police...and the justice system to get us…Clever."

"We know what needs to be done to get what we want."

Squall was surprised that the man was offering up so much information until it hit him. People only gave information out to those they no longer saw as threats. He hadn't gotten a good look at Riku, himself, or really Zexion for that matter, but they had to look pretty pathetic right now; bruised, battered, tired, barely able to move, and already handcuffed. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't really blame the lackey for not being too worried about retaliation.

"And what…" Zexion interrupted himself as he gasped up a shaky breath, "…dare I ask, are your plans for us now…?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Word is, though, is that something special is being saved for you three low-lives. For the last couple 'a years we've had to claw our way back up to the top of the criminal food chain, so you can be sure that there won't a shortage of people ready to dish out a little payback."

Zexion seemed determined to keep the lackey talking, even though it was clear that the schemer was beginning to strain himself in the process. "…And, I—I assume blindfolding us…plays an—an integral role in…in that plan?"

Another dark chuckle. "We wouldn't want to have too many witnesses to all of this, so we're just taking you somewhere a little more, private. And we can't ruin the surprise about where we're going, can we?"

"I dunno…I never was one for surprises...Ah!"

Squall closed his eyes as a sharp smack filled the back of the van, Riku earning himself a backhanded slap for his cheek. The kid either had guts or he was just a moron who didn't know how to switch off his "backtalk" mode. Squall had a suspicion that it was a little bit of both. "That's enough outta you! Just because we didn't kill you in the car crash doesn't mean the higher ups back at the base know about it! There'd be no trouble if one of you happened to kick the bucket on the way over there, so if you ever wanna step out of this car alive, you'd best watch your mouth."

For once Riku actually didn't come back with a snide retort and Squall found himself wondering whether he had actually learned a lesson or if the younger man had just passed out.

Not wanting to gain any special attention of his own, Squall didn't ask. Instead he just focused on breathing and guessing how much damage his body had sustained from the crash. When he had been walked over to the Organization's vehicle he had confirmed that all his limbs could actually move still. When he thought about it, he was lucky he hadn't gotten any neck or spinal injuries. He doubted that the Organization would've been any gentler with him if he had and it probably would have resulted in permanent paralysis, or worse. The only major wound he was aware of was whatever was on his forehead. It felt like it had stopped bleeding, but he couldn't say that for sure. If so, he probably hadn't lost too much blood, so hopefully he didn't have to worry about bleeding out. Hopefully it was nothing fatal.

How pathetic would it be, to survive through everything he had, and then be killed in a traffic accident? To have lived through gunfights, bombs detonating, battlefields and then in a single moment have your life taken away on a sunny afternoon in downtown Twilight Town? The thought made Squall sick. He didn't often face his own mortality—you couldn't live in his line of work and do so—but this was definitely one of those times where he realized how easily his life could've been snuffed out. Not that he was in the clear yet but…he couldn't stand the thought of dying. Not now. He still had things to do. Sora still needed him. Sora—

Shit, was Sora alright? The last time he had seen the teen was the night before he, Riku, and Zexion tried to attack the Organization. When he was in jail, he had used his one phone call to call home, but he had only gotten the answering machine. At the time, he had taken it as a good sign since he had thought that Sora had found someone to stay with, but what if—No. Thinking back, didn't Cloud mention once, before the blonde had stopped speaking to him, something about Sora calling? And if they had been in contact, Cloud would've made sure the other was okay. No matter how mad Cloud was at him, Cloud wasn't the type to project his anger onto Sora.

Cloud would take care of Sora. And Squall knew that Cloud would take care of them too. He could just imagine the look on the blonde's face—that justified outrage—when the detective learned what had happened. What he wouldn't pay to see that face…

* * *

Resisting the urge to slam his face into the secretary's desk, Cloud glared down as the man chatted away on the phone. He had finished filling out all the required paperwork, but now he was facing the hurdle of submitting it to the right person. He had asked the secretary to call them up to set up an appointment time, but the desk clerk had apparently decided that he was going to have a nice long talk with the official instead. Honestly, that was one of the few bad things about a small, close-knit community like Twilight Town. Everyone knew each other and they always wanted to know what you were doing.

Spotting a flash of red out of the corner of his eyes, Cloud turned to find Axel coming up the stairs. Cloud flagged him down with a quick wave of his hand and abandoned the secretary to his own devices in order to see what Axel had come up with. "Hey, took you long enough, Ax."

"Well sorry, I only had like ten billion files to look through."

Apparently they were both in bad moods. Deciding to skip to the point, Cloud rested his hands on his hips, "Did you get anything?"

The redhead sighed, "Not much. Our Judge is pretty thorough about cleaning up any possible links between him and the Organization. I checked through all of his court records for the past eight years for any cases he tried that might have been connected with them and I came up with a list of possibilities. I can't say for sure, of course, that the Organization was involved, but in all of them a criminal defendant was let off the hook despite a strong case by the prosecution. Before I left, I asked some of the tech guys back at the station to start running the defendants' names through our databases to see if any of them have a history with the Organization, so we should have a little more information in a few hours. How's it going on your end?"

With a scowl towards the secretary, Cloud pointed towards the short stack of papers sitting on the man's desk. "I filled everything out to the letter and am just waiting on this guy to finish up his phone call to let me know when I can submit them."

"Ah, good ol' bureaucracy."

"Don't get me started."

Axel grinned, "How about after this we go across the street for lunch? You can rant at me about paperwork, I'll rant at you about file cabinets, it'll be great. And it will be an excuse to sit down for a few minutes."

Cloud really didn't want to sit anymore, but the thought of a short break from work, and some real food in his stomach, convinced him that Axel's idea was still a good one. "I'll take you up on that. You're paying right?"

"Hell no. We'll go dutch like always."

"Fine."

Grin widening, Axel glanced over Cloud's shoulder. "It looks like your boy's done talking now." Turning around, Cloud saw that the secretary had indeed put the phone down and was back to scribbling something down on a pad of paper. It was about time! "Hurry and finish this up. All this talk of food is making me hungry."

Walking back over to the desk, Cloud had barely opened his mouth up to ask whether or not he had an appointment yet when the man beat him to it. "Detective Strife, you're being paged from downstairs."

"Whatever it is, it can wait. Right now all I want to know is whether I'm going to get to submit my paperwork to file for a mistrial today or not."

"I set up an appointment for you at one o'clock. But right now, I think you should go downstairs to the front desk. Whatever they want you for, it sounded urgent—"

"Detective Strife!" Cloud blinked and looked over as a beat cop ran up the courthouse stairs shouting his name, the poor rookie panting as if he had run all the way from the station, "Detective Flynn! Good, you're both still here…!"

Seeing the man's alarm, Cloud's brows furrowed as Axel lent a hand to steady the officer. "You're the one who paged us? What's wrong?"

"I came…I came to tell you. We just got a call—something went wrong!"

Axel frowned, "Whoa, slow down there and take a breath. What happened?"

Trying again, the cop took in a deep breath, "We-we just got a call, from one of our men transferring the prisoners to the county jail. He was hurt pretty bad and said something about the prisoners being taken away! Something went wrong!"

Cloud felt the blood drain from his face. Taken—They hadn't _escaped_ but had been _taken_? This wasn't good.

"Sorry, Axel, it looks like our lunch break is going to have to wait."


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: nearcreature, YumiStar, Clockwork Phoenix, Celestial Secrets, Reno-is-a-Turk, mello-jeevas, r a a i n, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, kingdomheartslover13, Mirror and Darkling, RkM4U, Aindel S. Druida, Stellar Eclipse, Shinimegami7, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Fried Chicken, Tsubasa-Faye, Bane-Dane, chibi heishi, xacilia, ChaosGarden, Becca86, KillingPatience, ramen-is-my-goddess, SlippingSanity, DeNiSaY60, and Chartreux Munchkin! Thanks bunches, you guys rock! I hope everyone's enjoying the summer and, remember, spend some time with your dad's/father figures tomorrow for Father's Day! ;)

O

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

Roxas sighed in relief as he finally stepped through the door to his apartment and into his home. Beside him Hayner, who was currently being used as a human crutch, seemed to feel the same. "Thank god! Where do you want to go now? Couch or bed?"

"Couch."

"Okay, here we go..."

Together they made their way over to a well-worn sofa pushed up against the wall. Roxas had had it since college and it definitely showed. Someday he was going to have to replace it but as Hayner lowered him down onto it, it felt like the most comfortable thing in the world. Anything would after spending a week on a hospital bed.

As Roxas settled back into the cushions, Hayner arched his back and stretched his arms up into the air, lifting his black skull t-shirt up from his cargo camo shorts to reveal a strip of pale stomach. "That is the last time I'm helping you up any stairs! You should sue this place for not having an elevator."

Roxas rolled his eyes, "It's never been a problem until now. Besides, I'm not that heavy."

"Are you kidding? You try carrying you up from the parking lot and see how it goes."

Expression melting into a grin, Roxas leaned over to grab the television remote from the other end of the couch. "If you ever figure out how I could, I'd be happy to rub your whining in your face."

His friend frowned down at him for a second before a smile slipped onto his face as well, "Deal. Now, do you need any more help or anything?"

Roxas paused for a moment before he clicked the TV on. After a week in the hospital, he was feeling better, but still not great. Definitely nothing like normal. And after the adventure he and Hayner had trying to get him back to his apartment, Roxas realized that he was still too weak to do a lot of things. Like easily walk across the room. He could still do it, but it would take a lot longer and hurt a lot more than it was supposed to.

Perhaps sensing his hesitation, Hayner interrupted Roxas's thoughts with a short laugh, "You know what? It's just way too depressing for me to think about you having to hobble around everywhere. How about I stay for a few days to make you don't, like, kill yourself trying to get to the toilet or something?"

Roxas frowned again, "I don't need a babysitter. I'll be fine. Besides," his voice lowered into a murmur, "I'd feel bad keeping you here to watch me…"

Despite Roxas' mumbling, Hayner caught the words and his smile spread as he flopped down onto the sofa beside Roxas. "Hey, don't feel too bad. Your place is closer to my work anyway. Plus, you have cable. So just think of it as me bumming around at your apartment instead of me sticking around to be your nurse. Besides, my best friend has just been hospitalized for a week, I think I'm allowed to be worried about him."

Hayner could be dense sometimes but he usually knew what Roxas needed to hear. Even if he lacked some eloquence when he said it. Reaching over, Roxas gave his friend a shove, "I don't need a nurse! But, fine. And…thanks."

Smile softening, Hayner grabbed the remote from Roxas and began to flip through the channels. "No problem."

After finding a channel they could both agree on a comfortable calm filled the room as the two lounged on the couch. Take away the fact that Roxas was wrapped up in bandages, it almost felt like the summers of their college years. Despite the dull pain pulsing through his body, Roxas had to admit that it was a nice break from things.

That is, it was, until his cell phone rang.

Wrestling it out of his pocket, Roxas looked down at the caller ID and swore, "Shit, I was supposed to call Cloud when I got home!"

Hayner grinned without even glancing over. "You'd better answer it then or the next time he calls he'll really let you have it."

"Ugh…sometimes I envy you being an only child."

"It has its perks."

Roxas stared down at the phone for another second as it rang in his hand. He really didn't want a lecture about how he was supposed to call and didn't or whatever. But Hayner was right—it was only going to get worse if he put it off. Heaving a sigh, Roxas flipped his phone open and raised it up to his ear, "Hey Cloud. Sorry I forgot to call, I just—"

"—_Nevermind that. I need you to do something for me._"

Roxas's eyebrows rose and Hayner tilted his head in silent question. Alright…he didn't seem to be in any trouble after all. "Um, sure. Though I'm kind of handicapped at the moment, so it can't be anything that, you know, requires things like moving."

He heard Cloud inhale a long breath of air. "_Alright, listen up, here's what's going on. Something went wrong during the trial, we're thinking the judge is dirty, and the guys ended up being sent to prison. We're trying to file for a mistrial but now we just learned that there's more trouble. Apparently someone intercepted the prison transport on its way to the county jail and kidnapped Leon, Riku, and Zexion. Axel and I need to get on it immediately but I want you to keep working on the mistrial._"

Roxas barely registered it as Cloud paused, his mind too busy trying to keep up with what he had just said. Realizing that his brother was waiting for a response, he gave a quick nod, "Oh, uh, sure, yeah. What can I do?"

"_A few hours ago Axel dug through all the files back at the station on the Judge who gave the suspicious ruling. His name is James Peters—write that down._" Scrambling for a pen, Roxas just barely had time to scribble the name onto the back of his hand—he hadn't been able to grab any paper—before Cloud was talking again, "_Since Axel already checked out all of our files at the station, I want you to start searching the database and local newspapers for anything that could connect this guy to the Organization. If we are successfully awarded a mistrial, I want to go ahead and try and nail this guy for conspiracy. First though, access Leon, Riku, and Zexion's tracking data and give us a call to tell us where they are. You have a computer there, right?_"

"Yeah, I have my laptop."

"_Good. I'll leave it to you then. Good luck._"

"You too."

Roxas waited a second to see if Cloud had anything more to say before ending the call. Hayner glanced over at him from across the couch, "What was all that about?"

"Apparently I'm going to be working from home for a bit." Face melting into a small frown, Roxas stared across the room at his bedroom door. His laptop was on a desk in his room and he wanted to get started right away but, as much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want to walk all the way over there. Then he remembered that he had a guest and his frown pulled up into a grin, "Hey Hayner, want to be a part of an official police investigation?"

His friend blinked, "What, seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm serious."

"Hell yes! That's awesome! What do I do?"

"Well, you can start by getting me my laptop from my room."

"…You suck."

* * *

As he ended his call with Roxas, Cloud leapt up the last few steps leading up to the Twilight Town Police Station and pushed his way inside, Axel hot on his heels. "Alright, Roxas is getting to work on their tracking info, so let's focus on getting an alert out on those three."

Axel nodded, both men's faces drawn up into a grim expression. "I'll go put out an APB if you want to notify the Chief."

"Sure."

Dodging passed a confused secretary, Cloud and Axel split off to take care of their delegated tasks. Jogging through the station towards the offices of the higher-ups, Cloud by-passed the new Head Detective's office and hurried straight for the door labeled "Chief of Police" in gold filigree.

Cloud had the presence of mind to knock once before he threw the door open, "Chief! We have a situation!"

The man sitting behind a large desk at the end of the room looked up, his face showing no sign of astonishment at the detective's outburst. Cloud wasn't surprised. Auron McKenzie was a veteran of the Police Force and had been transferred to Twilight Town from Yevon, a large city a long distance away, apparently as a sort of retirement plan. Though half-retired and graying at the temples, the man was by no means out of his prime and still had the discipline and guts to handle whatever came his way. In Twilight Town that usually didn't amount to much but every once and a while, something like this came up. He was also a good guy when it came down to it, and had been the one who agreed to let Axel have his job back after the Organization fiasco two years ago. "What is it, Detective Strife?"

Where to start? "The trial this morning, our suspects were sentenced to jail but, in my opinion, not for a good reason."

"I heard about it from the break room gossip after Detective Flynn was digging through our archives."

Alright, good, that meant Cloud could jump to the chase. "Did you hear that our suspects were kidnapped during transfer?"

This made the Chief pause, his hands stilling over his paperwork before lifting his head back up to look at Cloud. "No, that is new. I assume you and Axel are already getting to work trying to locate them?"

"Yes sir, Axel's putting out a bulletin on them right now."

Auron nodded and pushed his paperwork completely to the side. "Do we know who kidnapped your suspects? Any messages left behind, ransom notes?"

"No yet. I think that the scene is still being processed. Axel and I were planning on heading over as soon as we were done here. Even so though, I have a pretty good idea of who did this."

The Police Chief eyed the detective, a frown forming on his face as he seemed to read the blonde's mind. "Think carefully about what you're about to say, Strife. If you're sure than that's that, but assumptions can be dangerous things."

Cloud didn't hesitate for a second, "I know that, and I am still ninety-nine percent sure that this was done by the Organization."

Steel gray eyes met electric blue and the Chief must have seen something there, "Alright. I'll do whatever I can to support you and Detective Flynn in your efforts, but you have to watch yourselves. There's only so much trouble I can get you out of."

"I understand. Thank you."

As he turned to leave, Cloud heard Auron clear his throat, "One more thing." Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw that the Chief was going back to his papers, "Keep me posted on your findings, alright? If this really is the Organization, I want to nip this in the bud before it turns into something worse than before."

Relieved that he hadn't been stopped to be reprimanded at the last second, Cloud nodded, "Yes sir."

With his supervisor's approval in mind, Cloud walked back down the hall and into the main room of the station to see Axel just stepping out of their office along the back wall. The redhead spotted him in the same moment and made his way over. "The APB is posted and dispatch is announcing it over the radio. Did you talk to McKenzie?"

"Yeah. It seems we have his support in this as long as we play it smart."

Axel responded with a strained smile, "When do we do anything different?"

"I'm not even going to answer that."

"Good idea. What's next?"

They both knew they had a very short time to act before things got really dangerous. Every hour that Leon, Zexion, and Riku were missing the higher the chance that the three weren't going to make it out of it alive. That is, if they were still alive now. Waving for Axel to follow, Cloud began to head back out of the station, "Our next stop is the scene of the traffic accident to see if the kidnappers left any clues behind about who did it and where they are going. The crime techs should already be on the scene so we'll talk to them first to see what they've uncovered. We're not going to have very long because it's blocking a major intersection and they need to get the debris out of the road."

"Right. Are you driving again?"

Opening up the double-doors, Cloud looked over toward his partner as they made their way down to the parking lot, "Don't I always?"

"I know, stupid question."

Axel climbed into the passenger's seat and Cloud had just gotten into the driver's side and turned the ignition key when both of their phones chimed simultaneously. With a glance at each other, Cloud pulled his cell phone out as Axel did the same, the same text message popping up on both screens. It was from Roxas, '_All 3 GPS cut off. Wut now_?'

Worry flaring back up, Cloud snapped his phone shut as Axel began typing out a reply, "Damn it! There's no way that they would've taken those off themselves."

Axel's frown deepened. "If it really is the Organization who's got them, I'm not surprised. They know enough about everything else that they should've figured out about the tracking anklets. What should I tell Roxas?"

"Just…tell him to keep looking for evidence to nail Judge Peter's for conspiracy." Turning the car back off, Cloud gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white as he leaned back in his seat, "But that tracking data was our best bet to find them. It's not like we're going to find tire treads at the scene of the accident leading back to the kidnappers! We both know the Organization isn't messing around. If we don't get to them soon, all we're going to find is a bunch of dead bodies!"

Finishing up his text, Axel remained silent for a long minute as Cloud fumed. Then, he carefully began to speak, "Well…we're both pretty damn sure the Organization took them…The GPS is cut, there won't be any clues, but there is still one more option."

Cloud almost growled, "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"We could ask."

Cloud would've asked if the other was joking but the redhead's serious expression made the question catch in Cloud's throat. "What do you mean?"

"When the Organization pulls stunts like this they are always well thought out. The car crash, from what I heard over the radio, looked like an accident but you can be sure that every detail was carefully planned. In the same way, Riku, Leon, and Zexion will probably be taken back to a safe-hold familiar to the Organization. Back when I was working for them, their operations in Twilight Town weren't that developed so I don't know where it is, but any high ranking member will know the exact location of the place we're looking for. And we happen to know where three very high ranking members currently are."

It took a moment for Cloud to understand what Axel was suggesting but when he did, his eyes widened as his anger faded to disbelief. "You're talking about Xemnas, Saix, and Xaldin, aren't you?" When Axel didn't reply, Cloud scoffed, "Are you crazy? You want to go to them and ask them where to find Leon and the others? Do you really think they're just going to tell us?"

"Do you have a better idea? Besides, who would know better than the source of the Organization's commands?"

"Why do you even think that any of the Organization members that we have in prison would even know what is going on outside? They've been in there for over twenty months now!"

At this, a dark smile slowly formed on his face, "You really think that they don't get information about what's going on in the world and have opportunities to give out orders? The prison system might be just clean enough to keep them from getting out, but it is certainly not a tight enough system to prevent them from building their business back up if they chose to."

"And this is the first you've mentioned this why?"

"I figured it was common knowledge." Cloud bit his lip to keep in a shout as Axel shrugged, "Now, unless you have a better idea, I think there's no harm in trying mine."

This time it was Cloud's turn to stay silent. Instead of responding verbally there was a moment of quiet before he reached forward and turned the car back on. The silence stretched on as he backed out of his parking spot and rolled out onto the street. It wasn't until he turned the car to head towards the east, towards the county jail and away from the crime scene, that Axel's voice shattered the hush that had fallen inside the car. "You won't regret this, Cloud. I'll get something out of them."

"You'd better."

* * *

Squall bit his lip as he was shoved roughly back, his breath catching in the back of his throat as he landed not on the ground like he had been expecting but into a hard wooden chair. After approximately twenty minutes of driving—assuming he hadn't passed out somewhere on the road and had lost count of the seconds ticking by—they had been wrestled out of the back of the Organization's van and forced to stumble blindly into some sort of building. The only reason he knew Riku and Zexion had been brought along with them were Zexion's near-silent curses and one of the Organization grunts complaining as he carried Riku over his shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Squall was brought back to the present as his cuffed hands were wrenched behind his back and tied to the back of the chair with a thick length of rope. As if the handcuffs didn't chafe enough, now it felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper into his flesh. Not that it really mattered; his arms were still feeling a lot better right now than his head.

He heard voices surrounding him and then, suddenly, the fabric bag was yanked off his head. Wincing as a bright white glow from a bare lightbulb shone into his eyes, igniting a sharp migraine. Trying to ignore the feeling that his head was splitting open—and the fact that it might be literally splitting open—Squall struggled to get his vision to adjust to the change in light.

They were in a small room, the lightbulb swaying slightly from where it was hanging from the ceiling. The only furniture in the room was three chairs, one of which he was sitting in and the other two of which were occupied by Riku and Zexion. Zexion had been placed in the middle and, as Squall looked to his right the white light seemed to illuminate every new bruise on Zexion's body and gave the thin man a sickly pallor. Further to the right, Riku was sitting half-slumped over in his chair. The hitman's silver hair was falling into his face, the hair tie having fallen out somewhere along the way, but it didn't hide the dried blood running from his nose down his chin. Squall wasn't sure if it was a result of the car crash or the nasty slap he had received from the Organization member.

Perhaps feeling eyes on him, Zexion's head tilted up than turned towards Squall and the he tried to gauge the extent of his own injuries by the other's reaction. As Zexion's gaze swept up from his face to his forehead and there were no gasps of horror or shocked expressions Squall was able to relax, just a little. Then again they weren't alone in the room so perhaps Zexion was just keeping quiet so as to not attract the wrong kind of attention.

The same thugs who had dragged them out of the prisoner transport van and into the Organization's clutches were standing near the front of the room, the one who had ridden in the back with them speaking as he saw that they were all semi-conscious. "Welcome to your new home. If you're lucky, you won't last too long."

Zexion narrowed his eyes, the effect somewhat ruined by the bruise the size of an apple on his left cheek. The man seemed to have gained a second wind when their blindfolds were removed though, his voice a little stronger than it had been in the van, "What are you keeping us for? If it is information you are after, you are out of luck. We do not know anything that could be of benefit to the Organization. Even if we did you would never get anything out of us no matter what you tried."

Blinking in surprise, Squall's shoulders drew up just a little as he gazed at the gangsters standing in front of him with a little more suspicion. He hadn't even considered the possibility that they might be tortured for information. Squall knew no matter what the Organization tried that he wouldn't tell them so much as his name. Because of SeeD and what they had been prepared for, he was mentally strong enough not to break. He hadn't, however, expected to hear a similar conviction coming from Zexion or Riku. Squall would have thought that they would immediately spill every bit of information they could in order to save themselves but apparently they were stronger than he had first believed.

The Organization grunt wasn't as affected by Zexion's unanticipated bravery as Squall was though, the man cutting Zexion's speech off with a firm kick to the stomach that sent Zexion and his chair tumbling back to the ground. Riku jerked forward but was unable to help as Zexion coughed, trying to get air back into his lungs. "I'm gettin' tired of hearing your voice! Keep using that smartass mouth of yours and you'll regret it!"

Squall grit his teeth and Riku lurched forward again, wide awake now, his voice lowered into a snarl, "You cowards! If you want to teach us a lesson, untie us and fight us like men! Right now all you're proving is that the Organization is filled with a bunch of pussies!"

"_What_? Why I oughta'—"

Before the thug could draw his fist back for a punch, one of the other lackeys caught his wrist. "Wait a second. If you put too much damage on 'em, we'll all get in trouble."

As Squall watched on warily, Riku sneered back at the enraged man, "What? Not enough guts to go man to man? Gonna listen to what your mommy there tells you to do?"

The Organization member reigned in his companion as the man tried to break free again. "That's enough! Rather than letting this guy beat you into a bloody pulp, we're just going to let you sit here and think about what's in store for you."

Thrown off-balance by their sudden show of restraint, Riku's mouth hung open for a moment before he snapped back, "What, is that supposed to intimidate us or something?"

Squall felt a shiver run down his spine as the more level-headed thug narrowed his eyes before a small, foreboding smile spread across his face. "No. But it should. The Superior wants to handle this personally."

* * *

Cloud's jaw was clenched tight as he and Axel flashed their badges and talked their way through security check after security check as they traveled deeper into the county jail. Although it hadn't been proven in court that any of the high-ranking convicted Organization bosses had been directly involved in any murders or arsons or any other of the various crimes perpetrated by the group, they had still been placed in the maximum security wing. It had been done to ensure that the prisoners would have as little contact with other incarcerated Organization members, non-affiliated convicts, and the outside world as possible. From what Axel had told him on the way over though, it had been far from affective. Now Cloud was thinking that they all should've been put into isolation cells for the entirety of their prison terms instead.

The two detectives pressed closer together, shoulder to shoulder as they were finally led into maximum security with two prison guards serving as an escort. Feeling Axel tense up beside him, Cloud understood the feeling as he kept his eyes directed straight forward. It wasn't that he was scared, neither of them was scared, it was just that prison wasn't exactly the place where two detectives would ever want to spend a lot of their time. After all, since Cloud and Axel _were_ the detectives officially in charge of working homicide cases, most of the men stuck in maximum security were put there by them and the police officers who worked under them. It was true that the criminals were being held behind bars but Cloud knew that he couldn't let his guard down for a second and give any of them a free opportunity to try something.

Walking down nearly all the way to the end of the hall, the prison guard in the lead gave Cloud a tired look, "Here we are. If this is something that you need privacy for we can arrange for a secure room to be set up so that you can speak with them, but it will take a while for us to get everything set up."

"How long would it take?"

"Probably about half an hour since we'd need to walk the prisoners through the wing and into the main section of the prison."

"We don't have that kind of time. We'll just speak with them here."

"Alright. Whatever works for you." Stopping, the lawman pointed to three small cells at the end of the row. "Those are the men you're asking about. We'll stay back here and let you speak with them, detectives, but if they make show even the slightest sign of aggression, you signal us and we'll come running."

"Thanks."

Taking a deep breath, Cloud looked up at Axel and together the two moved down to the indicated cells as the prison guards hung back to let them work. As they walked closer, Cloud's steps slowed and finally came to a stop. There, sitting in the cramped brick room behind floor to ceiling metal bars, was a person he had hoped he would never have to see again. Ex-Head Detective Dilan Fisher, a.k.a. Xaldin.

The dread-locked man was sitting on his cot, a book from the prison library in his hands. His attention was lifted from the pages in his lap as their footsteps reached the inside of his cell though and for a minute he just stared back at them. Cloud forced himself to meet his old supervisor's gaze and tried not to let those cold indigo eyes get to him.

"Ah…Cloud Strife and Axel Flynn. I was wondering when you would come crawling in to see me."

Closing his eyes, Cloud couldn't bring himself to answer back civilly and was happy enough to let Axel handle the response. "This isn't exactly a social call, Fisher."

"No, I didn't suspect so. But tell me, how is the old precinct doing these days? I imagine things must be fairly calm now that you have us behind bars. Unless…you're beginning to find out just how useless your efforts really were."

Axel growled back, "Either way, everything is running much smoother now that you and your lackeys have been taken out of the system."

"Those are big words, considering you were a former 'lackey' yourself."

"I never worked under you and I never followed one of your orders!"

Xaldin chuckled, "That doesn't mean you weren't a 'lackey', it just means that you were a bad one." As he ended his sentence and he was met with silence, his harsh gaze raised back up to look at their faces, "Very well, I can see that neither of you are in the mood to talk. After nearly two years of not visiting there must be something that brought you all the way out to see me? Personally, I cannot think of a single thing that we would need to discuss."

Finally finding his voice, Cloud stepped forward to face the man he used to trust, "Listen, Fisher, I don't know how much you know or how much you're pretending not to know, but right now you're going to tell me everything about whatever secret base the Organization has in Twilight Town."

"Charmingly direct as always, Detective Strife. I do happen to know the information you're looking for, but I am not the person who will make the decision to tell you."

Cloud's hands clenched into fists at his side, "Then who is?"

"That would be me."

Cloud felt Axel tense up further behind him as a deep voice echoed out from the third cell down. Remembering the faces that had been burned into his memory during the Organization's trial, he was sure he knew who the voice belonged to.

Without saying another word to Xaldin, Cloud followed Axel as the redhead moved down the line. The blonde detective kept his eyes peeled on the prisoners in the cells they passed by. Xaldin had gone back to reading his book and didn't seem to be a threat anymore but his wariness was justified when, as they were passing by the next cubby-hole, there was a flash of blue and there was suddenly a figure pressed up against the jail bars. Cloud almost knocked Axel over as he jumped back, his finger's gripping onto his partner's jacket to try and stabilize himself after a yellow-eyed, blue-haired demon seemed to materialize inches from where he was walking.

Axel scowled as he reached a hand around Cloud to steady him. "Saix!"

Immediately the guards were at attention but Cloud waved them down before straightening up. That's right; Saix wasn't a demon, he was worse. The Organization leader's right hand man and enforcer. Nothing could be proven in court except his indirect involvement but everyone knew he wasn't a man you wanted to mess with.

Taking a deep breath, Cloud ignored the blue-haired man and continued on. It wasn't Saix who they had come to see.

In tandem, they finished walking to the end of the hall, Cloud's eyes glued onto a man as he was slowly revealed from behind the cinderblock wall. Long white hair hung loose around a tall figure standing in the back corner of the room, the orange coveralls he was dressed in doing nothing to reduce the ominous sense of authority rolling off of him. As the man's head slowly tilted up, golden eyes stared out, a smooth, knowing smile splitting his tanned face.

"Detectives. I had a feeling that someone of your position would be coming in to speak with me soon."

Steeling himself, Cloud approached the bars separating him from one of the nation's most powerful crime lords. "Watch what you say, Xemnas. Things like that could be taken as a lead-up to a confession."

"Bold words, but you needn't worry about me. I am well aware of what I should and shouldn't say, perhaps even more so than you are aware." Cloud's eyes narrowed but, before he could speak Xemnas was continuing, his intimidating gaze switching to his partner, "Ah, a familiar face. I wonder if you feel honored that I remember your name, Axel Flynn. Many would. I must admit though, I am surprised that you have not come to visit sooner."

Cloud glanced over at the redhead. His fellow detective's jaw was clenched so tightly it was a wonder that he could talk, "Don't play games with me, Xemnas. We both know that I stopped working for you the day I testified against you at court. I'm not expecting a friendly reception and you'd better not expect me to come running back."

Any façade of good-will on Xemnas's face fell away to reveal something much darker and much more appropriate for the leader of the Organization. "Axel, you always were able to see through my acts. Although I had not expected it, it would have made me happy indeed if you had decided to return to the Organization. That way it would've been easier to kill you. But nevermind that, you two detectives have come to me for a reason. I am curious to hear it."

Now it was Cloud's turn to steady Axel, "Hours ago prisoners from a police transfer were kidnapped after a traffic accident though, after hearing you talk, I think it's safe to say that you already knew about it before we got here. We want to know where they're being taken."

Xemnas raised a brow, "And why would I want to tell you anything?"

"Guilty conscience?"

Cloud sarcastic remark was answered by one of the creepiest laughs he had ever heard. "It has been a while since anyone has talked back to me in such a tone. I will remember that."

Shaking off the hidden threat, Cloud didn't back down. "How about you start remembering something else, like the location of whatever base your gangbangers are bringing my suspects too."

"Watch what you say." Cloud and Axel both frowned as their own warning was thrown back at them, "If you're not careful, you may begin to sound like you have an unnatural concern for the welfare of 'your' suspects. Not quite like the sounds of a mother desperately pleading for the safe return of a child, but more similar to a friend begging for their companion not to be harmed…It seems strange that the police would concern themselves so personally with the whereabouts of three convicted criminals."

Cloud's eyes widened just slightly. He hadn't realized that he had been more troubled than any other police officer would. Or, he hadn't realized that he had been showing it. If he gave away any indication that he had a personal stake in the matter, things could get even worse for both the police and for the Organization's three new captives.

At the pause, Axel cut back into the conversation, his tone clipped, "Of course we would; we want nothing more than to see those three here along side you in jail, but not even they deserve whatever you're planning on dishing out to them. Now I suggest that you do the smart thing and tell us what you know. Who knows, maybe a bit of cooperation will look good on your prison record. In fifty years, maybe they'll consider letting you out on parole."

"As…appealing as that offer sounds, I'll think I'll let it pass. I will say this much though, thanks to your interrogation, I will ensure that their last few days are their worst they've yet had on Earth. They will be so far out among the trees that no one will hear their screams for mercy. By now they should already be there. I wonder if they realize the walls surrounding them are the last that they will ever see?"

"You sick bastard—!"

Cloud nearly choked as Axel slapped a hand over his mouth, the redhead not looking much more level-headed than his partner. "It's clear we're not going to get anything from you, so we're going to leave before we come in there and kick your ass ourselves. Come on, Cloud, let's go. They're not worth it."

Seeing red, Cloud barely registered it as Axel began to lead him away. He knew Xemnas was just trying to press their buttons, trying to goad them into a reaction but, damn it, it had worked. As soon as it was obvious that they had finished their questioning, the two prison guards quickly surrounded the two again, one putting a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. He says all kinda shit to get people around here riled up just so he can take advantage of them."

"I know!" Pulling away from Axel's grip, Cloud took a deep breath. "I know. I'm fine."

Axel shook his head, the redhead's green eyes flashing, "Like hell you are. You shouldn't be, either." As they crossed back out of the maximum security ward, the detective's shoulders slumped a little, "Sorry, Cloud, for dragging you all the way out here. I thought Xemnas or Xaldin would at least give us a hint, just to keep their twisted game going, but all we've succeeded in doing is getting ourselves pissed off and wasting time when we could've been checking out the scene of the accident."

"We don't know that yet." Reaching into his jacket pocket, Cloud pulled out a tape recorder and turned it off. "I'll admit I can't remember half of what Xemnas said," he had been way too focused on trying to figure out whether or not he could do severe bodily harm to the man without getting reprimanded, "but maybe he did leave us a clue."

Axel blinked, "You recorded the whole conversation?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be ready in case he did say something that important and didn't trust myself to be completely in my right mind while I was listening to him."

"You knew he was going to get to you?"

"Yeah." Cloud's frown twisted up into a mirthless smile. "I knew I was going to be standing in front of the man who kidnapped Leon and the others and that there wouldn't be anything that I could do to get him to talk."

"Heads-up play on your part." Axel snorted lightly and shoved his hands into his pockets, "I had myself convinced that I'd be able to see them all and keep myself under control. What a joke…"

Looking back at his partner, Cloud saw a dark emotion flashing through his eyes, "You did better than I would've in your situation."

"Yeah, but you would've never been in my situation in the first place. I wish I could go back in time and kick some sense into myself. I actually believed that joining up with the Organization was the best idea I'd ever had…that I was going to be cool, rich, and powerful, have the whole world at my feet. They didn't tell me I'd be selling my soul to get it."

"At least you realize it now and have gotten out of the business. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, and you know I really hate it, right now, your experience in the Organization may be our only hope in being able to quickly locate Leon, Riku, and Zexion. It's almost been two hours already since they were taken and we still don't have any leads as to where they're being held. Every minute counts now, so we'll need all the help we can get."

Axel's expression softened before hardening into a look of pure determination. "Well then, let's gets back to the station so we can listen to what's on that tape. If there's anyway I can help, you let me know."

"It's a deal."

OoOoOo

The drive back to the Twilight Town Police Station was tense, only because Cloud felt like every second that ticked by was taking a second off of his life.

He had been trying to suppress it, but since he had heard Xemnas talk, his worry for Leon and the others had only grown. The Organization boss sounded sane enough but, just from the way Xemnas had phrased his words, the man's punishments sounded psychopathically cruel. Cloud was already feeling bad about the three having to go to jail; if they got injured or killed, he wasn't sure if he would be able to live with himself for being a part, no matter how unsuspecting, of making it happen.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cloud and Axel had driven across town and pulled into the TTPD parking lot. Jumping out of the car, tape recorder in hand, Cloud and Axel hurried through the front doors and had just taken a step inside when they were accosted from the side by a firm voice, "Detective Flynn, Strife, follow me to my office for a moment."

Cloud turned just in time to see Auron's back walking down the hall. Swearing under his breath, Cloud had little choice to follow even though he wanted nothing more than to run back to his own office and listen to the tape currently clutched between his fingers. Axel seemed equally bothered by the interruption, his voice lowered as he murmured to his partner, "What's this about? I thought you talked to the Chief already."

"I did, right before we left. I don't know what he wants now." The Chief had seemed supportive of their search a little more than an hour ago. Did he just want to talk things through again or had the man changed his mind?

Following their supervisor back into his office, Cloud and Axel both took a seat after Auron motioned for them to do so. Stoically sitting down at his desk, the man folded his arms over his chest and leveled them with a piercing stare. "By the way you're both looking at me, I can tell that you're worried that I decided to take this new kidnapping case away from you. The answer is that I haven't decided yet."

Cloud opened his mouth but Auron didn't give him the chance to speak, "I know what I said to you this morning, Detective Strife, but between now and then I have realized the full extent of what this investigation may entail. I hadn't realized that you were planning on speaking with Xemnas directly about the matter."

"How did you know—"

"In order to speak with the prisoners, the jail called me in order to double-check that you had permission to do so. I responded positively because I thought that you must have a plan, but that doesn't mean that I am happy about it. By introducing yourselves so intimately with Xemnas and the others, the both of you may be putting yourselves in unnecessary danger. I am not sure that I am comfortable allowing you two to continue on knowing the full extent which you intend to go in order to see this matter solved."

Axel frowned, "I understand where you're coming from sir, but Cloud and I were well aware of the risks when we started this. We're willing to accept whatever consequences there are for our actions."

Auron's eyes hardened, "But I am not sure if I am willing to allow you to accept them. As your Chief of Police, your welfare is also my responsibility and so it is my duty to advise you, once again, not to get in over your heads."

Cloud nodded to show that he was listening, "With all due respect, we would still like to continue. We will not hold you or the Force responsible for anything that may happen to us."

"I know you wouldn't. But there is also the chance that whatever it is you boys are getting into will lead you into another political scandal if you continue down the path you're on. You know what the public's like—if they hear that the Organization's back, as you claim, they'll go into a panic. Whether it's justified or not, it'll throw the city back into a frenzy and since the two of you were heavily involved in similar events a few years ago, you'll be right in the spotlight a second time. I don't want my only homicide detectives getting their characters attacked by the media."

At this, Cloud looked hesitantly over at Axel only to find the redhead's eyes were already on him. They both knew that the Chief was talking about him. After a moment, Axel cleared his throat, "As long we get our guys back, I'll take whatever heat the media wants to send my way and, if it comes down to the point where the Twilight Town Police is coming under fire, I'll quit."

"If it comes to that, I have a feeling we'll all be in trouble. But it sounds as if the both of you are set on seeing this through. Whether or not I agree with your decision, I have to commend you on your resolve. Keep in mind though that you are walking a very thin line. You can't afford to lean too far one way or the other."

Cloud and Axel answered simultaneously, "Yes sir."

"If you're getting back to work then I've kept you long enough. By the way, you have an interested party waiting for you in your office."

Raising a brow, Cloud rose to his feet, "An interested party?"

Auron shrugged as Axel stood as well, "I don't know any more than that. A receptionist told me about it when I came out to find you."

Cloud and Axel's eyes met again and, with a quick nod from each to their boss, they slipped out of the room. Hurrying back out into the main hall of the police station, they were practically racing each other back to their office, their pace just barely slower than a run.

Bursting in, Cloud just ahead of Axel, the two men stared, anxiety turning to confusion as they were faced with the sight of a fully uniformed SWAT, minus a helmet, sitting on the corner of Cloud's desk. "Commander Almasy?"

Sliding off the desk, Seifer ran a gloved hand through his cropped blonde hair. "Finally, it's about time you showed up."

Stepping into the room, Cloud went around his desk to immediately start looking for something to play the tape still held tightly against his palm while Axel closed the door behind them. "Sorry, we just learned you were here now. What can we do for you?"

As Cloud dug around in his desk drawer, he couldn't help but glance up and wonder instead what the man was doing at the police station in full gear.

"My SWAT unit received an alert that some prisoners had gotten kidnapped in the middle of a transfer. So I sent my team out but thought I'd take a little pit stop before I joined them. You two want to tell me what's going on?"

Sighing, Cloud finally found a tape player and sat down in his chair, "Long story short, Leon, Riku, and Zexion were kidnapped by the Organization on their way to prison. Axel and I are doing everything we can to locate them before they can get into too much trouble."

"Do you have any leads?"

"Not yet."

"Alright." Seifer crossed his arms, "I'm in."

Cloud faltered as he was about to press "play", Axel's brows raising as they both gave their full attention to the SWAT. "What?"

"I'm going to help you find them."

Cloud frowned, "You can _help_ by going out with your boys and searching the streets for them."

"They'll do good enough without me. I'm not leaving your side until I make sure that Leonhart's found."

The two detectives eyed him before Cloud sighed. They didn't have the time to make this an issue. "Since I don't think there's anything I can say to change your mind, you can shadow us as long as you don't slow us down and remember that Axel and I call the shots."

"Fine, whatever. What is that you're fiddling with anyway?"

Axel still seemed uncertain by the newest addition to their team but answered for them anyway, "We went and had a nice little talk with some of the Organization higher-ups in prison and Detective Strife had the good sense to record the conversation. We're planning on reviewing the tape to see if Xemnas, the man we spoke to, dropped any clues."

"Alright, let's hear it."

Cloud frowned but didn't want to waste any more time and finally pressed the "play" button. The three remained absolutely silent as Cloud fast-forwarded to the part where he and Axel had confronted the Organization boss and let the tape run through. Now that he wasn't face to face with Xemnas the blonde detective was able to control his emotions and focus solely on the exchange of words. Listening to the play-back, there were a few lines in particular that caught his attention.

Cloud waited until it had finished before speaking, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice in case his hunch was wrong. "Did you hear what I heard, Axel?"

The redhead smirked dangerously, "Yeah, I think so."

"What, what is it?"

Setting the tape recorder down, Cloud looked up at Seifer, his blue eyes calculating, "Xemnas says a few things that may help us find them. Here, listen again."

Rewinding back to the correct spot, Cloud played the tape again, his eyes narrowing further as Xemnas's cold voice echoed through the static background. "_They will be so far out among the trees that no one will hear their screams for mercy. By now they should already be there. I wonder if they real_—"

This time, Seifer caught on, "I see. They're being kept out in a wooded area, probably a decently sized, relatively unpopulated forest judging by his words."

Cloud nodded as Axel turned around to dig a map out of a pile of junk in the corner of their office. "Xemnas also seemed sure that they had already been delivered to the location at the time we saw him so, assuming that he knew as much as he seemed to, we know that it took them less than an hour to get there. Even if they used the highway, that limits the possibilities—"

"—Especially if we only look at forested areas within an hour radius." With a swipe of his arm, Axel cleared a stack of papers from his desk and replaced it with a map of Twilight Town and the surrounding countryside.

Cloud and Seifer got up to crowd around him and within seconds all three were pointing down at the same section. Cloud smirked at he looked at Axel on his right, then Seifer on his left, "Here it is; forested area within an hour even by the highway" They had gotten lucky; there was only one major wooded area that fit the criteria. The rest of the surrounding territory was either ocean—Twilight Town was a coastal city after all—or grassland scattered with suburban neighborhoods.

His smile fell a bit as Axel spoke, "This is good, but it's still a huge patch of land. We'll need to get a search party out there to scan the area but it will take two days, maybe three, to organize something like this through the police."

Damn. "You're right. Our precinct doesn't even have a helicopter."

Seifer perked up, "SWAT does, but our pilot is out. If you can find another one, we can have it up in the air tomorrow."

"We'd still have to authorize it through the city and we just don't have that kind of time. In two or three days who knows what's going to happen to them!"

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Seifer put his hands on his hips. "Well I can get us a copter tomorrow morning. Find us a pilot and we can get our search party out within twenty-four hours."

Axel shook his head, "We can't just go ask the local news if they have someone who can fly a helicopter. It needs to be someone who we can trust not to abandon us if we actually manage to find them. Because if we find them we're going to find the Organization too. We're going to need someone who doesn't flinch under fire."

Cloud's shoulders fell and he bit his lip. He really didn't want to leave Leon, even Riku and Zexion, alone and at the Organization's mercy for that long. But he didn't know any pilots or, wait…did he? "I think I have an idea…"

"What is it?"

"Someone I called up the other day, I remember them saying that they had been in the Air Force. We can ask him if he'd be willing to fly us out there tomorrow."

Axel frowned in confusion, "Who are you talking about?"

"Leon's boss in Traverse Town, Cid Highwind..


	10. Chapter 10

Go World Cup! Anyone else watching football out there? America's still in it! I say in the next game we throw a Hail Mary into the end zone and—what? Wrong sport? You said it was football! Kidding, I'm super exited about Fifa's football, soccer, whatever you want to call it. Go America! Ignore the fact that I'm wearing an England jersey and go out there and give it your all! Whoo! Hey Ref, stop trying to take away our goals! Why don't you come a little closer—I'll really give you something to blow your whistle about!

Edit: Well, we lost *sniffle* But we went out with our boots on! Ya! Never give up, never surrender! Now it's up to the English to redeem us (even if they don't know it ;p ) Go team!

Edit Edit: ...England! Seriously? What the hell? I mean, at least lose with a little diginity, y'know? *sigh* At least it was 4-1 and not 4-0 I suppose. Alright, both my teams are out. I would say who I'm rooting for now, but it seems to be a harbinger of destruction. XD I guess I'll just have to sit back and enjoy the show.

Anyway…thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Big hugs go out to: chibi heishi, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, YumiStar, RkM4U, nearcreature, Fried Chicken, r a a i n, ramen-is-my-goddess, xacilia, FuzzyLion, Aindel S. Druida, Blah, Clockwork Phoenix, Bane-Dane, mello-jeevas, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Shinimegami7, Becca86, ChaosGarden, and ! You dudes are awesome! Take a victory lap around the pitch then sit back and enjoy! ^_^

O

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

Sora looked up from his summer homework as Cid came blustering back upstairs. It turned out that the cranky old mechanic lived in an apartment above his shop, which was where Sora had been quarantined for the last week or so. He was getting so bored he could hardly stand it, not to mention more and more worried every day about his brother. The last he had heard, Cloud had called and told him that Squall might be getting jail time for whatever it is that he did. Did that mean he was already in prison? But, wouldn't he have called? They were supposed to let you have one phone call, right? Or was that when you went to the police station…?

Sighing, Sora rested his chin on his palm as the door to the apartment's living room slammed open and Cid stomped inside, "—Damn no good brats messin' up my store! I oughta give 'em all a good smack on the head!"

"Huh? Me?"

The blonde man started, his eyes wide in shock as he looked down at the brunette teen, "Gods, give me a damn heart attack, why doncha? Forgot you were here for a minute…" Scowling, the mechanic shut the door behind him and took a seat next to Sora by the half-broken coffee table, "And no, I wasn't talkin' about you, just some no-good punks runnin' around downstairs."

Sora frowned as Cid scratched at the stubble on his chin and reached for the television remote, "They weren't causing problems for you when you were closing up, right?"

"Huh? No, nothin' that I couldn't handle. Why?" Turning the television on to some show about fixing up old cars, Cid turned and smirked at the teen, "Were you itchin' to do something about it?"

"No, but I could've helped you close up shop or something."

With a snort, Cid's attention was back on the TV and his hand reaching for a cigarette in his shirt pocket, "You help plenty durin' openin', that's enough. Yer not even an employee."

"But Squall is, and since he's not here I can do some of his work for him. I mean, I've already been here for a week!" Truth was, Sora was beginning to feel like a free-loader. He still didn't quite understand the situation. All he knew was that it was apparently dangerous for him to be living alone, even though he was seventeen, and that Squall still wasn't home. Cid wasn't the most…nurturing person he had spent time with, but the older man _was_ taking care of him—in his own way. But the thing that was beginning to weigh on him the most, besides Squall's safety, was… "I, don't even know how long I'm going to be here for, so I'd like to help out a little."

Cid froze just as he was about to light up. The pause lasted less than a second before Cid flicked his lighter on and his eyes moved back to Sora, "Let's just take things as they come. It's true I've gotten used to yer brother around, but I can handle the shop fine by myself for a while. It's best not to imagine the worst either, but…if this turns into anything long term," Cid's face drew into a small scowl before he shook the thought away as he blew out a puff of smoke, "we'll work somethin' out. For now, things're fine as they are. You're far from the worst house guest I've had, trust me."

Sora frowned. He appreciated it, but he didn't like the fact that he wasn't earning his keep. He didn't want to be a burden. About to continue the debate, Cid's ears were saved when the gruff man's phone rang.

Pushing himself up with a grumble, Cid shambled over to the telephone, "Hello?"

Even from where he was sitting Sora could hear the conversation, Cloud's familiar voice instantly registering in his mind. Was this news about Squall? After making sure that Cid wasn't looking, Sora scooted over a foot or so that he could hear a little better.

"_Cid Highwind?_"

"Speakin'. Who is this?"

"_Detective Cloud Strife, from Twilight Town. We spoke a few days ago_."

"Oh right, you're the fella that had Leon arrested. Whadda want?"

Sora winced at Cid's harsh tone but kept quiet. He still didn't even know why Cloud arrested Squall. He would've been surprised, but he had known since the beginning that Cloud was Squall's probation officer. He also knew that although the blonde detective treated Sora well enough, he and Squall didn't always get along despite how much Sora could tell they liked each other. He had been a little mad at Cloud at first but then…Sora remembered that Squall didn't always do good things, so he was willing to forgive the blonde for arresting his brother. Just a little. So he didn't like the situation, but hearing Cid use that tone with Cloud seemed a little too callous.

Cloud, though, didn't even react to it. "_I'm calling…shit, where to start?_" Sora's eyes widened. He had never heard Cloud lose his composure before. This couldn't be good. Bracing himself for the worst, Sora strained his ears to catch every word, "_Sorry, I'm calling for a favor. Basically…Leon's trial was this morning and he was sentenced to jail. It shouldn't have happened, I'm trying to get the ruling overturned but that's not why I'm calling. On the transfer from the courthouse to county prison, the van Leon and his accomplices where in was the target of an Organization attack that was made to look like a traffic accident. They were kidnapped from the van and taken to an unknown location. We think we've narrowed their whereabouts down to a specific area, but we're going to need to do an aerial search to confirm it. We have a helicopter, but not the time to wait for a certified pilot to show up and I remembered that you had been in the Air Force so—_"

Sora almost jumped as Cid cut the detective off. "I'll do it."

"_You realize that this could be dangerous, right? And I know you own your own store and with such short notice—_"

Again Cloud was interrupted, Cid's voice growing annoyed. Sora couldn't see his face—the man had his back turned—but he could practically hear his scowl. "I said I'll do it! I'm not fool enough to not have thought through the consequences, I get what the deal is. But Leon's a friend, and if he's in trouble, you've called on the right man for the job!"

"_You, can fly a helicopter right? That's all we have access to right now. I had assumed that since you were in the Air Force you would've learned but I wasn't sure._"

"'Course I can fly a damn chopper! I can fly anything that's supposed'ta get off the ground. It don't matter what model, a flyin' machine's a flyin' machine, I'll get her ta work."

"_Alright. Thank you. If you're ready then, we'll meet at the Twilight Town municipal airport tomorrow morning at seven. Do you need me to come pick you up or do you have a ride?_"

"I'll take the train, that's fine." As Cid turned to grab a train schedule that was pinned to the wall, his gaze happened to fall on Sora and his brows narrowed. Letting out a small gasp, Sora was about to stammer out an excuse for his eavesdropping when Cid suddenly swore into the phone. "Shit! I forgot about the kid again! What'll I do with him while I'm out? If the shit's really hit the fan in all'a this, I don't want ta leave him here by himself."

"_No, of course not. Hm, Demyx is in Traverse but I don't know his address…just a second._" There was a pause on the other side of the line and the sound of rustling before Cloud's voice returned, "_I'm going to give you the address of a man named Demyx Donohue. Sora knows him and I don't think he'll mind an uninvited guest. It'll be good if they can keep an eye on each other too._"

Sora blinked as Cloud carefully read Demyx's apartment number and street address through the phone line. What had happened? Had Squall really been kidnapped? Sora couldn't even…he couldn't even imagine Squall letting himself be kidnapped. He had never met anyone stronger than his brother so was it even possible? Or was Squall so badly hurt that he hadn't been able to stop it. The thought unleashed a wave of cold that swept through Sora's body.

The next thing he was aware of was the sound of Cid hanging up the phone. Putting a hand on his hip, the older man let out a short sigh and used his other hand to stub out his cigarette. "You hear all that?"

There was no point in lying when he had been caught red-handed. "…Yeah."

"Good, then I don't need to explain myself. We're up fer an early mornin' tomorrow, so get as much sleep as you can tonight. We're all gonna need it."

* * *

The sun had just risen a few hours before when Cloud arrived at Twilight Town's small airport. Contrary to the norm, it was Axel who was sitting behind the wheel as their car pulled over to the side of the road. Shifting the vehicle into park, the redhead turned to look over at his partner. "Cloud, you sure that you don't need me to come along?"

Cloud frowned but shook his head, "It would be nice to have you watching my back but one of us needs to stay here and—"

"—and you want to be the one to find Leon and the others so that you can make sure they're alright. I get it."

Cloud's cursed himself as, despite his fraying nerves, he felt his cheeks heat up. "Knock it off, Axel. I'm seriously not in the mood to start up this argument again."

"Are you ever?"

The glare Cloud shot Axel effectively cut off any further remarks about the subject. Even if he wasn't at all interested in Leon, at this point he still would have been worried. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since he, Riku, and Zexion had been kidnapped and it didn't take a homicide detective to know that when the kidnappers were people as unforgiving as those in the Organization it didn't bode well. Especially when those who were kidnapped were as capable as those three.

"Axel, remember to keep a close eye on things while I'm gone. If there are any indications that any of them have escaped, or any sort of ransom comes in, you let me know." That was one of the reasons that one of them had to stay behind—to man the fort while the other was up in the air. The other reason was much more practical; after Cloud called Cid, he had called Seifer to let him know they had a pilot and had then been informed by the SWAT that the helicopter they would be flying had a carrying capacity of approximately seven men. That meant that technically Cloud, Axel, Cid, Seifer, and their three hopeful rescues would all be able to fit but it was mutually decided that it would be safer to leave one behind. They didn't want to press their luck with the maximum weight load the chopper could carry on top of everything else.

"Of course. Keep your cell phone on in case anything like that comes up. By the way, I want the same promise from you. If anything looks like its starting to go wrong or get dangerous, you give me a call or at least send me a text. Following the GPS on your phone, I can send units out to your location within an hour tops."

"Right." Cloud unbuckled his seatbelt then paused, reality sinking in a bit at Axel's words. What he was about to do could get very dangerous. It was intended to be a scouting mission but there was no doubt in his mind that if they found the place where Leon, Zexion, and Riku were being held they would attempt a rescue. If that were the case then there was a very high probability of them running into the Organization and, if that happened, bullets would definitely start flying. "Hey…if something does happen out there, take care of Sora, alright? Roxas is an adult now, he'll handle himself, but if something happens Sora will lose…everything he has left. And he's still just a kid."

Axel's eyes softened a bit at Cloud's serious tone. "Don't worry about him. If, gods forbid, something happens to all of you out there, there's definitely still people out there willing to take care of the survivors, me included. Now, get out there and represent the TTPD. Even if this is technically off the books, it'll be up to you to keep it as legal as possible."

A little bit of weight had lifted from Cloud's shoulders at Axel's assurance that Sora and everyone else would be taken care of if the worst should happen and he was able to manage a small smirk. "You know me, Axel. Even if it's off the books I always do everything by the book." Opening the passenger side door, Cloud slipped out, feeling his pistol in his belt holster bump against his hip as he stood up. "Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"No problem. It was the least I can do. I need something to distract myself from the feeling of being a housewife sitting on his ass at home while his husband goes off to war."

Nearly choking on a laugh, Cloud shook his head "God, what a mental image…And you better not just be sitting on your ass while I'm away. I expect some serious work to get done."

Axel seemed pleased with himself for melting some of the tension from Cloud's face and just grinned back, though his eyes were lacking a bit of their usual humor. "Yes, dear. But seriously, be careful, okay?"

Cloud responded with a wave as he closed the car door. He had no intention of putting himself in unnecessary danger. Necessary danger was another thing altogether but Cloud still believed that he had the good sense to tell the difference between the two. Even when his personal feelings got involved.

As Axel turned his car around to head back out onto the street, Cloud turned in the opposite direction and headed to the part of the municipal airport where he knew they kept the helicopters. Luckily, the place was not very hard to navigate even though he had never been there before. Twilight Town's airport wasn't commercial so only people who owned private planes and planes owned by the city were allowed there, which meant that it took less than five minutes to spot two figures standing out near the airstrip. It wasn't, however, even the two people standing around that caught Cloud's attention as much as the large black helicopter they were standing next to.

Seeing him coming across the field one of them, clearly Seifer by his stance and shape, waved him over. As Cloud approached he noticed that the SWAT had forgone his official tactical suit in favor of a pair of combat boots, black pants, and a navy blue sleeveless shirt with a large white cross pattern on the front. Even in plainclothes the man managed to look intimidating, and the gun strapped to his side did nothing to dissuade that impression. The sidearm did cause Cloud to do a double-take, though, and it took a minute for him to realize why—it was the same type of gun that Leon used. SeeD issue.

Standing beside him, Cid looked about the same as Cloud remembered. Oil-stained white shirt, dark baggy pants held up by a utility belt, a pair of dog-tags around his neck, and a cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Only today, there was a pair of goggles on his head and an impatient scowl on his face to go along with it. "'Bout time you got here, Detective Strife."

Cloud frowned as he glanced down at his wristwatch. "I'm right on time. I suppose I should thank you both for getting here early though." He would've been too if he hadn't passed out on his living room floor around three that morning and ended up sleeping through his alarm. At least it had had the side benefit of actually giving him a decent amount of sleep for once.

Seifer waved the comment away. "Don't bother, we're wasting daylight. I just finished getting this bird gased up and was right about to ask Gramps here if he thinks he can fly it."

Cloud swore that he saw a vein pop on Cid's forehead. "Who ya callin' 'Gramps'? Ah may be older than you, but that doesn't mean I can't beat some manners into you! And you bet your ass I can fly this chopper! It's just as easy as drivin' a car."

Smirking back, Seifer pulled on a black tuque that covered the very top of his scar. A scar—Cloud noted for the first time—that was eerily similar to the scar that cut across Leon's face. "Just what I wanted to hear. Strife, are you riding up front or in back with me?"

Cloud subtly looked at each man, considering his options. If he rode up in front, he would get a better view of the surroundings and would be able to direct Cid to where he thought they should be looking. But if he were in the back, he'd be able to react a little faster if a situation did present itself. Also, there were windows in the back so it wasn't as if he'd be totally blind. "Is there a way that we would be able to communicate to the front of the helicopter to the back?"

"This model's installed with a two way speaker, so that won't be a problem."

"I'll ride in the back then. We can use the time that it takes for us to arrive at the location to firm up our plans."

"Probably a good idea." Seifer looked over at Cid. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, what the hell. The both of you'd probably be about as helpful as a sack a' potatoes up front anyway. Plus, I'll be able to smoke all I want without you two griping about it."

Seifer frowned. "You can't smoke in here. It's dangerous and this is city property."

"Ah, what you don't know won't hurt ya. Now are we going today or are we just gonna stand around and wait for somethin' to happen?"

"Right." Pulling a smaller version of the map they had used in his office from his pocket, Cloud handed it to Cid. "I have the area where we're headed marked on his map. If you have any questions about it, let me know but for now, let's start by getting airborne."

Apparently that was all that had to be said to get Seifer and Cid into action. As Cid walked around to the pilot's side of the aircraft, Seifer wrenched open the sliding door leading into the back of the chopper. As Cloud jumped up inside he could tell how it might be a tight fit for anymore than six people. When Seifer climbed up inside to the helicopter after him and confirmed it, the detective figured that he'd have to readjust his idea of personal space for the next few hours.

Inside there were small seats against the wall with harness like seat belts going across them. Motioning for Cloud to sit in one, Seifer closed the large door behind them. "Go ahead and buckle up. I'm not sure how great this Highwind guy's flying is and I'd rather avoid any injuries happening right at the start."

Silently agreeing, Cloud slid into a seat and buckled up, Seifer following his lead seconds after. Nearly as soon as the SWAT leader had snapped his seat belt into place a loud hum filled the cabin and the metal wall behind Cloud's back and the floor under his feet began to vibrate.

"Here we go. Let's see if Highwind's as good as he says he is."

Cloud really, really hoped that he was. Looking out of a small window to his right, he could see the shadows of the helicopter propellers on the grass begin to spin, slowly speeding up until one blade was indistinguishable from another and the grass stalks were being bent sideways from the force of the resulting wind. Around them, the frame of the helicopter shuddered and then, just when Cloud was half expecting everything to just burst into a ball of fire, there was a lurch and another glance out the window told him that they had successfully made it off the ground.

Turning back to Seifer to measure the other's reaction, Cloud's worries were soothed a bit at the calm expression on the other's face. Noticing that he was being watched, Seifer nodded toward the detective. "Pretty smooth lift-off all in all, especially considering he's probably never flown this particular model before."

"Good to hear."

Cloud watched and waited until their altitude seemed to level off before pressing the button that activated the two-way speaker. "Cid, I don't know if you've managed to take a look at the map yet, but we're heading to the northeast of here."

There was a pause before Cid's voice came back through the speaker. "—_I know, I took a good look at it before I fired this old bird up. I should be able to get us there within fifteen minutes, easy. You fellas don't worry about what's goin' on up here, just make yer plans or whatever the hell it is you need to do—_"

Cloud wanted to smile at the remark but he just couldn't find it within himself at the moment, given everything else that dominating his emotions. "Understood. Let us know if you see anything."

As his finger slid off of the button, Cloud took a moment to gather his thoughts. They were almost there. It was time to put aside all of his worry that something had happened and just get the job done. Right now all he should be thinking about was spotting the Organization's hideout and getting their parolees rescued. That was it.

Much to his disgust, his mental self-coaching didn't go unnoticed. "Leon's gonna be fine, you don't need to start beating yourself up about it."

Tilting his chin up, Cloud eyed Seifer from across the small aisle separating them. "I wasn't."

Seifer rolled his eyes, his arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back in his seat. "Then stop trying to stop yourself from beating yourself up. I've seen that look you have on your face before, so I know what you're thinking." There was a soft pause as Seifer turned his icy blue gaze to the window. "Leon's tougher than this and has been through much worse. He'll come out alright."

That's right. Seifer probably knew all about that. A frown pressed Cloud's lips down as he struggled to put his thoughts into a question. "You…were in SeeD with Leon, right? He told me when I asked how you knew each other that you had been his commanding officer?"

The other seemed momentarily caught off guard and blinked before giving a firm nod. "That's right. We went in together, along with another buddy of ours, as recruits." Seifer snorted and a dry smile slipped onto his face. "I guess you can say that we kept each other alive through it all. Although Dincht and I didn't do such a great job with that in the end…"

Shocked not only by the statement but also from the genuine remorse that had snuck into Seifer's tone, Cloud's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

This question seemed to surprise the ex-SeeD again. "Leon never told you?"

"Told me what? Did something happen?"

A calculating look that set Cloud on edge had sparked in Seifer's eyes. "Huh…I figured that he and you—nevermind. But he seriously never told you? You must've asked about it when you saw his legs."

Saw his legs? "What the hell are you talking about?"

That spark in Seifer's eyes flared a bit and his gaze swept over Cloud as if reevaluating him. "Really? I know the guy always wears pants but I figured you at least would've seen him without." Cloud opened his mouth to protest but Seifer didn't give him the opportunity. "Our last big mission in SeeD was a raid against an enemy combatants' base. Leon, Dincht, and I were all there, and I was the officer in charge. We had just managed to get the upper hand on the enemy and were pushing our way in when out of nowhere—Leon was running out to help an injured soldier and he ended up getting blasted by a land mine. His legs up to his lower thighs were charred pretty badly and he ended up with a huge chuck of shrapnel lodged in his gut. He almost died…" Seifer's voice trailed off a bit before the man shook himself off. "Anyway, he still has scars from it. There's a cut in his stomach and the skin on his legs from the knees down are fairly discolored from the burns. I thought you'd have noticed is all."

Cloud stared back at the other man with wide eyes. He was like a deer caught in the headlights but at that moment it couldn't have mattered less to him. He knew that Leon must've seen some action through SeeD but he had never thought that he had come so close to dying. Leon had never said anything to him, ever, about any of it. But what was bothering Cloud the most were the scars apparently blatantly obvious on Leon's body. Had he ever really _looked_ at Leon before? He had noticed the scar on his stomach but hadn't thought much of it, and to have completely been oblivious to the burns on his legs…They had seen each other without their clothes off but now, looking back on it, Cloud realized how little affection there was between them versus simple physical need. It…he didn't know why but it made him feel a little sick.

Seifer tilted his head, just watching for a minute before speaking up, the other's voice soft but every word deliberate. "You know…I'm not sure anymore what's going on between you and Leon but if you don't step it up, I'm going to move in."

Cloud's eyes snapped back to the other's face. "What?"

"That's the only warning you're going to get. Stake your claim, or else I will."

"But, we're not—He's a criminal and I—"

Seifer cut him off with a smirk, although something about it told of a much deeper emotion running through it. "There are some loyalties that are above the law."

* * *

Squall didn't know how much time had passed since they had first been tied down onto the chairs and left alone to rot, but it had been more than a few hours, maybe even a day or two. There were no windows or clocks so it was nearly impossible to keep track of the passing of time.

In those many minutes or hours or days, whatever it was, their situation hadn't changed much. No one had come to visit them since they had been locked in the room, not even to feed them. The biggest news was that between the three of them they had managed to get Zexion and his chair upright again. It had been quite the ordeal as he and Riku were stuck using their feet to try and pick the chair up, each nearly falling over themselves before they finally managed to get Zexion off of the floor.

After some amount of time Squall must've fallen asleep because the next thing he was aware of was the sound of a chair scraping across the concrete floor. His eyes instantly snapped open and locked onto the sight of Riku rocking his chair around as he tried to wrestle with the rope tying his hands to the back of it. Sitting up straighter, Squall stretched before he spoke up, his voice rough. "What are you doing?"

Glancing up through his silver bangs, Riku frowned before his brows furrowed in concentration. "I'm trying to get this knot out."

With a sigh, Squall leaned his head back. It would've been a good idea had they not spent an hour or two already trying to get their hands free. Squall was pretty sure he had gotten a bad enough rope burn that the skin on his wrists had started to break. He had considered breaking his thumbs, but that only would've helped him to get out of his handcuffs; the rope was tied around his wrist bones. "What makes you think it'll work any better this time around?"

The question caused Riku to scoff as he looked back over his shoulder to try and look at his progress. "It won't, but I figured I'd try one more time before moving onto the next idea. While you two were sleeping I've been working on a plan to get us out of here. Now get over here and lend me a hand, would you?"

Looking around, Squall realized that Zexion too was sleeping. The older man had not been doing well and Squall wasn't entirely sure it was just because he had gotten his chair kicked over. While the pale man only had bruises to show from the car crash, Squall was starting to wonder if the other man hadn't sustained some sort of internal damage. Knowing how well Zexion dealt with pain—that is to say, not very well—Squall knew that if the schemer had suffered from more than superficial surface injuries he wasn't going to be too useful for the group in their escape attempt.

Turning back to Riku with a sigh, Squall leaned his head back. "What could I do?"

"Get over here and I'll tell you."

Squall scowled but obeyed, slowly scooting his chair across the floor and followed Riku's directions until his chair was situated about two feet behind Riku's. It wasn't exactly an easy task since the chairs were heavy, he had limited muscle movement, and he was exhausted. Riku in turn was about two feet from one of the walls of the room and Squall had to give the lither man credit for maneuvering his own chair into position.

"Alright." Looking back again as if to make sure that Squall was in the right spot, Riku grinned. "Now we've been trying to get our wrists out of the rope, which has obviously worked out _so well_ for us," Squall rolled his eyes, "but what if we try instead to get the rope off of the rungs on the back of the chairs?"

"What do you mean?"

Riku sighed. "You're terrible at thinking outside the box. Instead of getting our wrists out of the rope, we should be trying to get the rope off of the chairs."

Finally Squall's sluggish mind caught up with the plan as he took another look at the way Riku had situated their chairs. "So, I'm guessing you want me to break the rungs on the back of your chair?"

"You got it."

"I'll have to kick at it and I'll probably just knock you over."

Riku sneered back. "Why do you think I got this close to the wall?" The silver-haired assassin picked up his own legs and braced his feet up against the concrete slab.

Alright, so Squall wouldn't knock the hitman over but, "It's going to hurt, you know."

"And I know you'll enjoy doing it, so let's just get this over with. Just try to avoid kicking me while you're at it. I won't be much good to any of us if I come away with broken bones."

"Okay."

If Riku was willing to put himself on the line in order to help them escape, Squall wasn't going to complain. And he couldn't exactly say that Riku was wrong either—kicking him in the back was going to be mildly satisfying.

Planting one foot on the ground as firmly as he could to balance himself, Squall lifted his other leg and delivered a well-aimed kick directly to one of the rungs on the back of the wooden chair about four inches below where Riku's hands were tied to it. There was a subtle cracking noise and the assassin let out a grunt at the impact. "Again. I think it's giving."

"Alright, hold on." Bringing his leg back, Squall lined the heel of his foot up so that it would strike the weakened part of the rung and put all the force he could into the movement as he kicked out again.

A sharp snap filled the room as Riku jerked forward. "Ah—shit! You son of a—Could you have kicked a little softer maybe?"

"It got the job done, didn't it?" The rung on the back of the chair that Squall had aimed for had broken in half.

With a wince, Riku twisted around in his seat to try and take a look. "I think you broke my spine too."

"Don't complain when you asked for it."

Scowling, Riku began to fiddle with the rope again, slowly sliding the knot down the fractured rung. "I'll complain all I want to—Damn it!"

"What?"

"I think I cut myself on the broken edge of the wood…Oh well, maybe the blood'll act as a lubricant...Almost…there!" Riku let out a small cry of victory as the rope knot finally slipped all the way off of the chair.

Squall forced down any wave of excitement that threatened to well up in his chest. There was still a long way to go before they got out of here. This was a pretty good start though.

Stretching his hands up over his head, Riku grinned before stumbling up to his feet. "Man, I'm stiff."

"How about you loosen up later and for now just worry about getting me untied?"

The hitman rolled his eyes but sauntered over after one more stretch and crouched down behind Squall, "You ever think about saying 'please' and 'thank you'?"

"No."

Squall grit his teeth as the rope around his wrists suddenly tightened before the pressure went slack. Maybe he deserved that. Either way, he wasn't about to start up a fight about it now that his hands were free. Well, relatively free. They were still cuffed together but at least now he was able to twist his arms up over his head and down onto his lap, a small sigh escaping him as his blood flow began to normalize.

Once he was finished with Squall, Riku headed straight over to Zexion, Squall coming over to help a second later after he had forced himself to stand. While Riku bent down to untie the man's hands, Squall focused on waking the other up. Their voices hadn't done the trick up to this point, so he skipped straight to lightly shaking the man's shoulder. "Zexion. Zexion, wake up."

The schemer's head rolled onto his shoulder and, after a few more shakes, a murmur so quiet that Squall nearly missed it slipped through Zexion's lips. Encouraged, Squall shook a little harder. "Zexion!"

"Mmn…what…?"

Finishing getting the knot undone, Riku pulled the rope off then came around to stand beside Squall. "Come on, wake up, Zex. We're getting out of here before those jerk-offs come in and start kicking us around again."

Zexion's eyes slowly opened up as his face drew up into a frown. "Ugh…yeah. How…How long was I out for?" On instinct, he moved his arms around to rub at his face, blinking down in surprise at his hands a moment later, "…You got the rope off?"

Riku grinned mirthlessly. "Yeah, but that's pretty much all you missed. I don't know how long we've been here for, but it's about time we got out. All we need to do is find an exit."

Eyes narrowing in thought, Squall padded over to the room's only door and carefully tried the handle. It was locked, as he had expected. There was no keyhole on this side, no space between the door and the doorjamb, and the hinges weren't even on their side of the door. The door itself felt like it was made of solid metal and since they didn't even have any tools or weapons of any kind on them, "We're not getting out this way."

"The vent."

"Hm?" Turning to look at Zexion, Squall found the man to be staring upwards and followed his gaze up to the ceiling. There, in the middle of the ceiling was a single air vent, probably put in place to make sure that the concrete box of a room didn't run out of oxygen.

As Squall walked back over, Riku tilted his head up. "Oh, no way are we going to fit in there."

After a good deal of effort, Zexion managed to get himself standing. When he spoke again, his voice was a bit stronger and much more self-assured, "Before I…passed out, I did the calculations in my head. The vent is larger than those found in the normal household…I believe that this building is fairly industrial in construction, so the ducts should be wide enough that we should be able to fit through…Leon may have some trouble, but it will be possible."

Riku's nose scrunched up and he reached his hands up to wipe away some of the dried blood on his face. "No way in hell. That crawling through walls shit is definitely not my thing. There has to be another way out."

To his shock, Squall found himself agreeing with Riku. Despite Zexion's assurances that he would be able to fit, looking up at the vent Squall couldn't imagine how he would get his shoulders through.

"If you have another suggestion, I would be happy to hear it. But before I fell asleep it was all I could come up with assuming that our hosts keep to their word and leave us be. Besides, they have undoubtedly been warned not to fall for any sort of trickery, so this may be the only thing they had not anticipated us trying, especially considering they expect us to still be tied to chairs. Can either of you reach the vent?"

"What's the matter shorty, don't want to jump for it yourself?"

Rolling his eyes, Squall ignored Riku and, knowing that he was the tallest out of the three of them, moved forward a few steps until he was directly under the vent then reached his hands up. Standing on his toes, he was just able to reach it. Not waiting for Zexion to give him anymore directions, he steeled himself and with one firm tug, the metal grate popped off exposing the inside of an empty metal duct. "What now?"

"Now," Zexion moved to stand directly next to Squall and peered up, "we put this theory to the test."

Riku raised a brow, still clearly dubious about their plan. "Ladies first."

Zexion frowned again but apparently decided that he was above having to respond as he turned to Squall. "I hope you will not mind giving me a lift up?"

After releasing a breath of air, Squall shook his head. Honestly, he was in no shape to do any more physical activity, but it wasn't exactly like he really had a choice in the matter. Pushing down the screams of his aching body, he bent down and laced his fingers together to serve as a foothold for Zexion. At least the guy didn't weigh much. "Don't move around too much."

"I will do my best not to cause you too much discomfort."

And Zexion actually seemed to want to keep his word as he ignored any hesitations he may have had and stepped up into Squall's hold, wrapping an arm around Squall's shoulders as the taller man stood. Grimacing, Squall straightened up then slowly pushed Zexion up into the vent, the lighter man quickly trying to gain some sort of handhold in the duct. Stepping closer, Riku peered up into the darkened space. "You good up there?"

"_Just a moment_," Zexion's voice echoed down with a metallic ring, everything above his torso enveloped by the ductwork, "_ah, there we go. The vertical shaft becomes horizontal about two feet up. Leon, just one last boost and I will be up_."

Squall didn't need to be told twice and gave once more push. He was rewarded soon after as Zexion gained traction and was able to pull himself the rest of the way in. Next came Riku's turn which went surprisingly smoothly considering that Squall had to put up with having the assassin's hand around his neck as Riku kept his balance. It may have helped that Riku was taller than Zexion and had an easier time reaching the ducts. It may have also helped that Riku actually kept his mouth shut for once and didn't make any unwanted comments about the situation. That is, until he got out of Squall's arms.

"_Are you shitting me? This is ridiculous! It feels like I'm trying to crawl through a tube of toothpaste._"

From farther up in the ducts, Zexion's voice was just audible from where Squall was standing. "_Riku, just please pull Leon up so that we may continue. We cannot afford to waste time now that we have gotten started_."

"_Yeah, yeah_." After what sounded like a bit of a struggle, Riku managed to turn himself around and look down the air shaft at Squall. Reaching both arms out, a necessity thanks to the cuffs, Riku grimaced. "Can you reach?"

"If I jump…maybe. We'll find out." Taking a breath, Squall leapt up into to the air as high as he could and just barely managed to grab hold of Riku's hands. At Squall's sudden added weight, the air ducts groaned and shuddered, both Riku and Squall holding their breath as Squall remained suspended about two feet in the air, his forearms reaching into the duct. If anyone came into the room now it would've made for a pretty strange sight.

Speaking of which—Squall turned his head as he heard not the sound of the ventilation system crashing down but the sound of footsteps hurrying towards them. "Damn it! Riku, pull me up! Someone's coming!"

"You know," Riku grit his teeth and began to tug Squall up, the two no longer worried about making noise so much as hurrying things up, "this would be real easy if my arms didn't feel like they had just popped out of their sockets and my feet stopped slipping."

Squall scowled as he was hoisted up, unable to do anything to help until he was far enough in to grab at the metal walls, shimmying up the best he could while Riku continued to tug him up by his jumpsuit. "This isn't exactly a cakewalk on my end either-!"

His voice caught in his throat as somewhere below him he heard the sound of a lock being undone and a door being thrown open. By then, he had just barely gotten his feet into the vent and was gasping for air, Riku staring wide-eyed at his face as the shouting of guards echoed up through the duct.

"_They've escaped up into the ventilation system! Someone go sound the alarm_!"

"Well, shit. That didn't last long."

From up ahead he heard Zexion's voice, "Thanks to the noise you two were making, I would not have expected it to. Now, we had best move quickly." Squall couldn't see past Riku, but he could tell Zexion's expression was not a happy one. In fact, there was very little he could see, the only light being the tiny bits that managed to squeeze past Squall's body from the room below, which was very little considering Squall took up most of the space. His shoulder just barely fit—he actually had to hunch in order to move—and when he crawled forward his elbows dug into his rib cage. The only things in front of him were four metal walls and Riku's backside as the hitman maneuvered himself back around. It was a very good thing he wasn't claustrophobic—as it was, the only thing keeping down a minor panic attack was a sense of urgency.

"Well then lead the way! You'd better get us out of here before we run out of air!"

"Do not be stupid, Riku. We will not run out of air, this is the ventilation system after all." Squall would've protested if he had the energy; there wasn't much of an airflow going with all three of them clogging up the pipes. "The air is, in fact, our ticket out. If we follow the breeze, it will undoubtedly lead us to an exit."

"You're the only one who can feel a breeze! Just, just go, alright?"

Squall frowned as Riku's voice took on a slightly panicked edge. The hitman was leaner than him but still not a small man and seemed to be on the same verge of a breakdown that Squall was on. "Keep it together. Just think of something else and focus on following Zexion out."

Whether or not Squall's coaching worked, Riku fell silent and they were left to crawl their way through the vents with only the sound of creaking metal and panting breaths to console them, their world quickly getting swallowed up by darkness. At first it hadn't been so bad but Squall was quickly coming to think that this was one of the worst experiences he had ever had. It was definitely up there. His body ached, his senses were nearly completely cut off, and he was exhausted physically and mentally. It was as if someone had thrown him into a coffin and buried him under six feet of dirt. No, wait, he would've had more room to breathe then. It was as if someone had vacuum sealed him and then thrown him under six feet of dirt.

Just when Squall thought that _he_ was about to lose it, his sanity was saved by a small flicker of white up ahead. Riku was the first to react to it, "Oh, god, please let that be light!"

Somewhere up ahead Zexion let out a soft grunt. "It should be, we have been moving forward for about forty yards or so, give or take a few. Assuming that this building is not monstrous in size, it is about time that we reach an exterior wall. And judging by the fact that the air has slowly been getting fresher, I would say that we are most likely getting very close."

Those words alone gave Squall a second wind and allowed him to continue forward until Riku stopped, Zexion probably stopping in front of him, and Squall was pretty sure he knew why. The light had grown stronger and now Squall could see his surroundings again but, more than that, he could hear a very distinctive sound. It was a fan, probably blocking the vents as it drew clean air into the building.

For a second panic bolted through him at the thought of them getting stuck but then over the noise of the fan he heard something slamming against metal. Someone, Zexion, was banging against the fan to open up their escape route. He heard Riku shout some inaudible words of encouragement and a second later there was a loud slam and the duct was finally filled with sunlight as the fan was forced out from the vent.

A minute later Riku continued forward then disappeared from view and Squall knew that they were out. Crawling forward and ignoring the pain in his elbows and knees, Squall greedily sucked in fresh gulps of air as he suddenly emerged from the hellish ducts and looked out to see a thick wall of trees and blue skies. Looking down, he spotted Riku and Zexion sprawled out on a moss-covered forest floor and it was only then that he realized that he was a good twelve feet or so from the ground. Such a drop had never seemed less daunting.

Without even a second's hesitation, Squall pulled himself from the ventilation system and nearly free-fell to the ground, catching himself in roll at the very last second to avoid injury. It worked but it had almost caused him to roll head-first into the large industrial fan that had tumbled down there after Zexion had kicked it out.

Looking over to his left, he didn't think he had ever seen Riku looking more relieved than he did at that moment. "That…was the worst escape plan, ever."

Wincing, Zexion slowly sat up, gripping at his side. "It worked…"

"I don't freaking care. No more crawling through ducts, ever. End of story."

"We're not done yet." Squall hated to break the mood and would've liked nothing more than to sit right where he was for another twenty hours, but they just didn't have that option. Standing, he looked around. "They know we escaped through the vents and I'm sure they're looking for us. It won't be too long before they come around the side to check if we came out this way so we have to get moving."

Riku moaned but picked himself up, Zexion slowly following suit after a moment. "Very well…I have to say though, I have no idea which direction to head in. I was completely turned around during our drive here."

Shaking his head, Riku scanned the trees around them. "It doesn't really matter as long as we get away from here."

"We can head west. That way no matter where we are within a day or two we should reach a road or at least the ocean. From there we can work our way back to Twilight Town and get some help—" Squall cut himself off as some faint sound caught his ear. It didn't take him long to place the noise as the sound of voices, and they were getting closer. "We need to go, now."

No one seemed inclined to argue and the three of them dove into the trees. They all knew that it wouldn't take the Organization long to realize what had happened, particularly once they stumbled upon the broken ventilation fan, and they would soon be chased down. They needed the biggest head start that they could get. It was going to be the only advantage they had. After all, in their orange jumpsuits, they might as well've had a been big target painted on their backs.

As tired as he was, Squall forced himself to keep pace with Riku who, being the fastest among them, had taken the lead. When the silver-haired man glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were still behind him though, the assassin's steps slowed. Knowing that he wasn't the problem, Squall looked back to find that Zexion had stopped a few feet back and was leaning up against a tree.

"Come on, Zex! We don't have time for a rest break."

"…I know!" Zexion snapped back and Squall was scared, not because of his angry tone but because of the shorter man's panting breaths. Zexion was clearly gasping for air, not in the 'I'm out of shape and can't run' way but in the 'I'm physically unable to get enough air into my lungs to continue' way. "I, just…I seem to be having trouble…Go on, I will, I will catch up."

Riku's face has gone white as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Like hell you will!" All three of them jumped as a sudden gunshot split the air. Had they already been spotted? "Damn it!"

They needed to keep moving. But leaving anyone behind was out of the question. There was only one thing to do then. Turning around, Squall grabbed Zexion and, without a word, pulled the older man onto his back. Immediately Zexion's arms wrapped around his neck, his head falling against Squall's shoulder as he continued to try and regularize his breathing. Squall wasn't excited about the idea of carrying anyone piggyback in his present state, but he knew that Riku probably didn't have the strength to do so. He also had put his body through worse and knew that it was hold up for as long as he needed it to. He hoped.

Riku actually flashed Squall a relieved smile before launching back into a jog. "Alright, let's put as much space between them and us as we can!"

Squall nodded, any verbal reply silenced by another gunshot. That had clearly been aimed in their direction. Their only hope now was that they would be able to lose their pursuers in the woods. Considering they were wearing neon orange though, Squall doubted how well that would go for them. You could probably see them running from a mile away.


	11. Chapter 11

"_Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. 'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!' cries she with silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!'" _-"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. Happy 4th of July, from one (usually) proud to be an American, to you. Now go enjoy some (illegal here in California) fireworks and BBQ!

And thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: r a a i n, Chartreux Munchkin, nearcreature, Shinimegami7, Canderjack, ChaosGarden, Aindel S. Druida, RkM4U, chibi heishi, Becca86, Tsubasa-Faye, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Mirror and Darkling, Dragi, Reno-is-a-Turk, mello-jeevas, kingdomheartslover13, MeykoLove, xacilia, Stellar Eclipse, Pyro Ahlex, Clockwork Phoenix, BlooJhay, VedensolinaShukakku the adorable raccoon, Bane-Dane, ramen-is-my-goddess, kestrel26! You dudes are the most awesome reviewers a writer could hope for! ^_^

O

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Chapter 11

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Squall felt the heat of the summer pressing in on him as he followed Riku's footsteps, the hitman dodging between patches of light and shadow as they continued to run through the forest. It must have been around midday, perhaps a little before noon, the sun overhead beating down on the fugitives whenever they stepped into a ray of sunlight that managed to slip down to the forest floor through the heavy foliage above them. Squall could feel lines of sweat beginning to drip down his skin but didn't waste any effort in trying to wipe it away. The hot temperatures were made all the worse by the warm body pressed up against his back, Zexion's grip on the SeeD tight as he hung on as the convicts were chased further into the woods.

They were no longer worried about moving west or in any other direction, focused solely on getting away from the Organization grunts hot on their tail. At least fifteen minutes to half an hour must have passed since they broke out but the lackeys hadn't shown any signs of giving up the chase. A few times, Squall had thought that they had managed to lose them but every time he was proven wrong by a bullet ricocheting off of a tree trunk a few feet away from his head.

Sliding recklessly down a short embankment covered in dead leaves and twigs, Riku looked back to make sure that Squall and his cargo were keeping up. The silver-haired man's chest was heaving, a hunted look in his sharp teal eyes as he caught the sound of angry voices on the wind, "We're never gonna get away in these getups!"

Zexion murmured a broken apology in Squall's ear, his added weight causing Squall's landing to be a little rougher than normal as the ex-soldier jumped down to stand next to Riku, but Squall brushed it off with a grunt before continuing to move forward. "Well unless you have another set of clothes hidden under that jumpsuit, I don't think we really have any other options."

"We can take them off—"

Zexion answered back before Squall could even come up with a response. "Yes…because running around in our underwear would attract so much less attention…"

Squall couldn't argue with that one, "You two are so pale it'd be about the same as running around with prison orange, except without the benefit of wearing clothing…"

Huffing, Riku quickly retook the lead. "Well _sorry _for not getting a tan—" Riku cut himself off with a short gasp as a bullet kicked up a pile of leaves by his heels.

"Less talking, more running!"

"Shut up, Zex, you're not even walking!"

At this, Zexion wiggled around in Squall's grasp, clearly uncomfortable with the fact. "I have recovered my breathing sufficiently to the point where I should now be able to run on my own. Leon, if you like you may put me down."

Squall grit his teeth before murmuring a quick, "I'm fine." Truth was that it would've been easier, much easier, if he were able to put Zexion down but Squall was positive that, despite Zexion's assurances, the other still wouldn't be able to run. At least not fast enough to keep pace with him and Riku. And the worst part was that he had a pretty good idea that Zexion knew it too. The fact that the schemer had actually attempted to be selfless, even if only for a moment, made Squall all the more determined to force himself to carry on.

They stopped speaking after that due to a mixture of frayed nerves and the fact that they were too busy pulling air into their lungs to bother wasting any of it on talking. Despite this they were far from silent, each step they took sounding like a handful of firecrackers to Squall's ears as they raced over dead plants and underbrush. Even if they weren't wearing prison orange, the Organization would still probably be able to follow their every move.

He could sense that Riku was beginning to tire, the younger man's steps growing less assured and graceful as he began to stumble over rocks hidden underneath the shallow bed of vegetation. Chasing after him as the sound of gunfire grew louder behind him, Squall was faring no better as he suddenly found himself tripping over what he thought had to be a tree root. That is, until within the span of a heartbeat he looked down and realized two things. One: that tripping over a tree root definitely wouldn't have caused him to suddenly start bleeding and, two: that he was much more worn-out than he thought if he didn't immediately realize that he had been shot.

Grunting, Squall was unable to keep his footing and hit the ground hard, Zexion tumbling down next to him with a shout of surprise. Jaw tightening, Squall pressed a hand over the new wound in his leg where a bullet had torn through cloth, skin, and muscle about three inches below his kneecap. He was bleeding but it didn't look like any major arteries had been hit so he tried to get back up, managing to take two steps before falling back onto the ground with a stifled, pained grunt.

Beside him Zexion rolled up onto his knees, the man's visible eye wide as one hand reached down to clutch at his side. "Riku!"

Nearly falling over himself, Riku whipped around and ran back over to the patch of sweltering sunlight Squall had landed in, streaks of sweat visibly dripping down his face and causing his silver hair to stick to his skin. "What, what happened? Leon, you gotta get back up, let's go!"

Zexion's mouth hardened into a thin line though his eyes didn't lose a drop of their fear. "Leon has been shot."

Biting the inside of his cheek, Squall moved his arms back down to grip at the bullet wound, trying to put some pressure on it and slow the bleeding. He knew in that moment that all three of them heard the subtext of Zexion's words perfectly. Squall was done and Zexion, unable to run on his own, was done. Shaking his head, he turned his stormy eyes up to stare hard at Riku and forced any sign of hesitation out of his voice. "Keep going. We'll distract them enough to buy you a little time and hopefully you'll be able to lose them."

Riku looked down at Squall's leg as if trying to process what had happened before he took a step back then paused again, clearly torn between his instincts of self-preservation and the remnants of the belief that they could all still make it out. "No, I—Leon, just, come on, get back up! I'll carry Zex for a while, so let's just—"

Squall interrupted Riku mid-sentence with a sharp bark, "Riku, enough!" His throat tightened as he heard the sound of the Organization search party growing closer; they'd be found within seconds. "Just go! Get out, find Cloud or Axel and tell them where we are and come back for us."

"If I do that, there won't be anything for us to come back for!"

Zexion winced before his shoulders tightened up. "If you do not leave now, Riku, then none of us will make it out. Now is not the time to suddenly decide to grow a conscience."

Riku blinked and for the first time in his life Squall saw a scared, twenty-four year old kid staring back at him instead of a bloodthirsty killer. In a moment though the look was almost completely gone. "What's this grow a conscience crap? I've been looking after your ass for over five years now Zex, and I'm not just going to stop now. I do have some pride, you know?" As haggard as he was, Riku moved around Squall and Zexion sprawled out on the ground so that he was standing between them and the oncoming Organization flunkies. "Leon, I guess you can just consider to be a lucky tagalong. That, and Sora would kill me if I came back without you…"

Shaking his head, Squall bit back a noise of pain as he tried once more to stand up. He was able to get himself into a crouch but it was all his body was going to allow. "You're crazy."

"Seems like it."

Any further protests from Squall were silenced as the first Organization member appeared from in between the trees, rifle held out in front of him, ready to fire. Riku tensed up and his footing shifted not into an aggressive stance but a defensive one as his, Squall's, and Zexion's eyes locked firmly onto the barrel of the gun and the man holding it. In the blink of an eye more Organization grunts followed after and within less than a minute they were surrounded.

Looking from face to face, Squall didn't see anyone he recognized—he had been hoping to see the lackey who had kept the peace last time—nor did he see any traces of pity in any of the eyes he met. One of the men lifted the shotgun he was holding up into a ready position, his graveled voice leaving no room for negotiation. "Down on your knees!"

Squall watched as Riku swallowed then slowly did as he was told, the man's pale hands slowly going up to rest behind his head. "Calm down, you caught us, alright? Just take us back in to a room that you've actually secured and it won't happen again."

Squall turned as another Organization member spoke up from behind them. "Shut up! You're not going anywhere!" That wasn't good. Definitely not what Squall wanted to hear.

Riku's cuffed hands clenched into fists before he turned around to look as well. "Whoa, wait a minute there. Won't your boss get mad if he gets damaged goods?

The first man who had yelled at them began to talk again, Squall, Riku, and Zexion spinning back around to face him. "As soon as you lot tried to escape, you became fair game. I'm sure the Superior will understand. Now, if you have any last words, now would be a real good time to spit them out."

Squall's grip tightened on his leg. He could hear his heart pumping rapidly in his ears, growing so loud that he was almost deaf to what the Organization flunky was saying to them. The bleeding from his wound was beginning to slow as his blood began to congeal, but at this rate he was going to have a bullet in his head before he was able to get back on his feet. Without a weapon in their hands, there was nothing any of them could do.

Throat tightening as he heard someone work the bolt action on their rifle, Squall felt his body buckling down, readying itself to take one or a dozen hits. The sound of blood pumping in his ears grew louder and for a moment seemed to echo around in his head until he realized that the "echo" was in fact a separate noise altogether. It wasn't familiar but he nevertheless recognized it in that instant—the sound of helicopter blades.

Everyone, all the Organization members included, glanced up in time to see a large black helicopter pass overhead, flying low enough to make it look like its runners were skimming the treetops. Their pursuers seemed as surprised as Squall felt and he allowed himself to once again have hope that they would make it out of this mess alive.

The noise from the helicopter's rotors barely faded as it disappeared from view and a second later it swung around in a second pass, this time hovering over the small clearing that they had collapsed in. The wind from the blades was so strong that Squall had to shield his eyes as debris was kicked up into the air, the Organization grunts gathered around them taking a few steps back to reevaluate their situation.

From between his fingers Squall watched as the door of the chopper was pushed open and a very familiar blonde head of hair emerged from inside, the man's voice just barely audible as he shouted down over the noise. "Hang on!"

Lifting his hand away from his face long enough to give a thumbs-up, Squall watched as Cloud disappeared back into the helicopter, a shred of his confidence returning as the Organization members took another step back.

OoOoOo

Gripping the side of the helicopter, Cloud stared down at the three prisoners kneeling down on the ground for a moment more before pulling his head back in. When he had spotted his first flash of orange darting amongst the tree trunks below, Cloud had thought that he was losing his mind but after Seifer and Cid caught the movement as well he knew that they had found them. After nearly an hour of scanning the woods he had been beginning to think that they would be better off doing a ground search but it looked like he had been proven wrong. And for once he didn't mind. It looked like they had arrived just in time, interrupting a would-be execution from being carried out.

Looking back at Seifer, Cloud kept a firm grip on the side of the aircraft as wind was kicked in through the open door. "We're right over them! What do we do now?"

"We can't land here, there are too many trees around." Face set into a determined frown, Seifer was already making plans of his own. While Cloud had had his back turned, he had dug what looked to be a lightweight harness and a long stretch of rope out from a storage bin built into the back of the chopper. After pulling on the harness, Seifer quickly latched one end of the rope onto a metal loop welded onto the side of the helicopter and slipped the other end through a grappling device on the harness he was wearing. "You are going to stay up here and take whatever shots you can get at those guys holding the weapons while I go down and get our guys back on their feet."

"What, no! I'm going down there with you!"

Seifer's head snapped up with an icy glare, clearly not used to being disobeyed. "I don't think so. I've been trained for this, you haven't, and this isn't the time to argue." Walking over, the ex-SeeD turned SWAT punched the two-way radio to let him talk to Cid, "Keep her steady, I'm going for a drop."

"—_You got it! Just make it fast, we're runnin' low on fuel!—_"

"Perfect…" With one more step, Seifer was standing next to Cloud, his scar distorting as he furrowed his brows in concentration. "As soon as I'm on the ground and disconnect from the line, you'll need to pull it back up, clear?"

Cloud's hands tightened on the metal doorframe, his knuckles turning white. Leon was down there, with Riku and Zexion, they all needed help and he was going to be damned if he just sat back and watch. "I get it, but I'm still coming down with you! I won't be any good to anyone stuck up here!"

"Forget about it!" Dropping the rope over the edge of the chopper, Seifer gripped it tightly with both hands and began to walk backwards out towards the edge. He must've spotted something in Cloud's eyes because his own gaze hardened. "If you do this wrong, you could end up dead. This isn't about who gets to save Leon, it's about getting all three of them out alive. That's going to take the both of us to make that happen, so shape up and get your gun out, Strife. Right now, I need to know you'll cover me and make sure no one fills me full of lead on my way down. Can I count on you or not?"

Cloud swore in his head, his common sense screaming at him that the other man was right. It didn't make it any easier though. Instead of sliding down the rope, Cloud made himself respond to Seifer's question and piercing gaze by giving him a stiff nod and pulling his handgun from his side holster.

"Good. If this works, let's both head east. I remember seeing a small field less than half a mile from here and Highwind should be able to land there long enough to get everybody on board."

With that, Seifer didn't even give Cloud time to nod in affirmation this time before pushing off of the edge of the helicopter and beginning his descent to the make-shift battlefield below.

OoOoOo

Zexion let out a shout as a length of rope suddenly came tumbling out of the sky and hit him in the head. Tearing his gaze away from their hunters, Squall followed the line up with his eyes just in time to see a shape leap from out from inside the helicopter and begin to rappel down towards them. Instantly, the Organization flunkies around them were back on the attack, each one of them raising their firearms to fight off the new threat.

Thinking that it was Cloud coming down to them—totally exposed to fire as he lowered himself down into the tree line—Squall was about to force himself up onto his feet and help when gunshots coming down from the helicopter brought his attention back up and he saw none other than Cloud leaning out of the chopper shooting at the Organization below. Although the Organization still had them outgunned, the unexpected return fire caused them to scatter and run for cover, providing the rappeller the time he needed to make it safely to the ground.

They landed right between Riku and Squall but by then Squall had identified who exactly it was who had come down to get them. And somehow, despite his shock, it seemed right. Who else but Almasy would've done something like that?

As soon as his feet hit the ground, Almasy was all business and Squall felt his mind being swept back too many months. Unlatching the harness he was wearing from the rope, Seifer pulled out a handgun and started firing off his own barrage against the Organization. "Leonhart, status report!"

Too similar, it was all too similar. The forest around him did nothing to ward off threatening flashbacks of deserts and gunpowder smoke. Luckily, Seifer's command was so well-programmed into his brain that it required nearly none of his concentration to reply. "Zexion and I are wounded. I might be able to make it alone, but Zexion will need to be carried."

"Got it. Hey, you," Riku looked up from the ground where he had thrown himself to avoid the crossfire as Seifer caught his attention, "can you shoot a gun?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Good, take this." Riku had time to blink once before he clumsily caught Seifer's handgun and a new ammo clip as the soldier tossed it to him. Seeing his surprise, Seifer hesitated for a moment until Riku snapped back to attention, gripped the pistol properly, and fired off the remaining rounds into the crowd around them with practiced accuracy.

"Force them back and get us some space to run!" For now Riku didn't seem to mind being ordered around by a stranger and focused himself on keeping the Organization members in hiding long enough for them to escape.

Meanwhile, Seifer had already moved on to the next matter at hand. Bending down, he scooped Zexion up and, despite his verbal protests, in one move threw the man over his shoulder like a sack of flour. A glance told him that in the short time he had been given a weapon, Riku had managed to open up a hole in the Organization's defenses and knew that this was their chance to make a break for it. "Leonhart, on your feet! We're getting out of here!"

Biting his lip to keep in a gasp of pain, Squall levered his body up with his arms. His leg still hurt like hell but the bleeding had, for the most part, stopped. Or, at least it did until he started running on it. Favoring his other foot as much as possible, Squall limped more than ran after Seifer, Riku practically running sideways after him as he covered their tracks with a volley of ammunition.

By now of course, the Organization had noticed that they were trying to slip away and were doing everything in their power to ruin their plans. For a few yards though Squall, Seifer, Zexion, and Riku were able to make it through without anyone getting a bullet in their back thanks to the combined efforts of Riku and Cloud from above.

As soon as all four of them made it out of the small clearing, the helicopter took off, flying out over their heads farther back into the woods. Sucking in a breath, Squall called up to Seifer as he led the way, "Almasy, where are we going?"

"Pick-up, about half a mile in. Can you make it?"

What kind of question was that? Half a mile, he could do this for half a mile. "I have to."

Squall's words caused Almasy to look back over his shoulder, a startling amount of concern flashing through his blue eyes. "Seriously, can you make it?"

Clenching his jaw, Squall nodded, pushing all the self-assurance he didn't feel into his gaze as he stared back at Seifer. He couldn't let Almasy be worried about him. He knew the other well enough by now to know that if Almasy had reached the point where he was actually letting his anxiety show, the commander's faith in their success was wavering. "I'll be fine, just keep going."

Whatever emotions he had managed to convey seemed to give Almasy the assurance he needed that Squall wasn't going to fall down dead in the middle of their run. As the SWAT turned back to face forward, Squall trained his eyes on Seifer's heels and forgot about everything else, including the bullets flying around them, except for following the man's steps.

The trick worked and allowed him to ignore the pain that swept through his body with every step he took. He didn't know if they were putting any distance between them and the Organization, didn't have the time to spare to glance back, so Squall tried to ignore that too. Almasy was racing through the forest like a homing missile and Squall was about to ask where in the hell he was taking them when suddenly there was a break in the trees and the woods opened up to a small glen. With no more tree trunks to use as shields it would've been a disastrous move had it not been for the helicopter waiting for them in the middle of the small field.

The blades of the chopper were still rotating around at full speed, the tall grasses churning up around their feet as they were blasted with waves of air. Stumbling through the weeds, Squall let out a shout as Riku tore past him. For a minute he thought that the hitman had reverted back to an every-man-for-himself mentality then realized that the assassin had another idea in mind. Pulling himself up into the helicopter, Riku used the higher ground to gain an advantage over their pursuers, he and Cloud standing shoulder to shoulder as they unloaded their clips into the approaching group of Organization members.

Squall watched as up ahead Seifer reached the chopper and hoisted Zexion inside before jumping up himself. By this point there was no giving up, so Squall sucked in a breath and sprinted the rest of the way, practically throwing himself at the helicopter as he finally made it over. He saw Cloud's neon blue eyes flash down to him and even before he got himself fully inside the machine Almasy was already hitting the speaker button to talk into the cockpit. "We're in, let's go!"

"—_Hang on!_—"

Before Squall even had time to question why the pilot's voice sounded so much like Cid he was forced to instead grasp desperately for a handhold as the helicopter began to lift off of the ground with Squall's legs still hanging out over the edge. Immediately a hand gripped his wrist and he followed the arm up to find Cloud's face looking down at him with barely concealed alarm, "Leon—!" The detective grimaced as the chopper's balance shifted and sent him and Squall sliding further out towards the open door. Shoving his handgun back into a belt holster, Cloud freed up his other hand and used it to grab onto Squall's other wrist, the blonde bracing himself with his feet. "Can you pull yourself up?"

The helicopter was already about ten feet off the ground and flying back off towards the forest, though Squall didn't look down to confirm it. He kicked out with his good leg to try and find anything to stand on but the runner was inches beyond the toe of his boot. Swallowing down a bridging panic, Squall's fingers tightened on Cloud's arms as a bullet ricocheted off of the chopper's metal hull. "I can't find anything to grab onto!"

The detective's eyes widened then narrowed into a resolute stare. "Alright, hold on!"

With a strength Squall didn't know Cloud possessed, the blonde pulled back and Squall felt himself slowly being drawn inside. Just as Cloud had almost pulled him in far enough for him to use his knees to climb in on his own power, over the noise of the helicopter rotors Squall heard the sound of a shotgun being fired. That was the only warning he had before the chopper gave a violent lurch, Squall's heart stopping for a minute as Cloud cried out and the two of them were thrown back out towards the open door.

"—_Damn it! They shot at the goddamn blades!_—"

Anything else Cid said didn't reach Squall's ears as he suddenly found himself dangling nearly sixty feet in the air with only Cloud's hand keeping him from plummeting to the ground. Cloud himself was now half-way out of the helicopter and hanging on with his other hand for dear life, literally. "Leon! Don't let go!" The blonde frantically looked back over his shoulder, "Seifer, I could use some help!"

Squall watched desperately as Almasy, who had been thrown back against the side of the chopper, appeared at Cloud's side. "Leonhart! What the hell are you doing?"

"What the hell does it look like?" Squall's jaw tightened as he watched Cloud slip another inch closer to the edge. If he didn't get pulled up soon, Squall prepared himself to let go of the detective's hand. There was no way he was going to pull the blonde out with him if he fell.

Spinning around, Seifer disappeared for half a second before he reappeared in the door, the line of rope from earlier bundled up in his arms, one of the ends connected somewhere back inside the helicopter. Kneeling down at the edge, the SWAT nodded down to him, "Catch this and we'll pull you up!"

Squall quickly nodded back and watched as Seifer threw the line out, the free end of the rope tumbling out to hang amongst the treetops beneath them. Lunging sideways, he felt Cloud's grip tighten around his hand as he swung his weight out to the side to grab for it. As soon as Squall's fingers wrapped around the rope he let go of Cloud, some of his fear subsiding as the detective was able to push himself back inside the chopper. The feeling of relief didn't last long though as he realized that there was a fatal flaw in their plan.

All of them, himself included, had expected that he would be able to hang onto the rope.

A heartbeat after he let go of Cloud, a shout was ripped from Squall's throat as his hand slipped. His grip was just too weak to support his full weight with one hand grabbing onto the line. Grasping with his other hand, Squall grimaced as the synthetic fibers of the rope burned across his palm as he slid down the line. Up above, he heard Cloud and Seifer's yell out but couldn't understand them, too busy trying to stop his descent to leave any space in his mind open to interpret speech.

Just when Squall thought he was going to spear himself on a tree branch he felt his uninjured leg snag on the rope underneath him. His body gave a sharp jerk as the line tightened around his ankle, bringing his velocity from nearly free-falling to zero in half a second and flipping him over. Swinging from the rope like an upside-down hanged man, Squall just stared down at the tree tops below him for a long moment, the dull green of the leaves looking back at him. Off to the right he could make out a thin ribbon of brown, a thin dirt road, cutting through the trees like a river. It was almost peaceful. The bone-shattering impact he had been expecting hadn't happened. He was still alive.

Or, maybe not. As he shifted to try and look back up towards the helicopter, the loop of rope wrapped around his ankle loosened and Squall had only a moment to brace himself before he was back to falling. Luckily—though he didn't feel very lucky at the moment—he was only hanging a few feet above the trees so as he fell his descent was slowed by tree branches that passed in front of his eyes in flashes of green and brown. Grunting as he slammed into a particularly large branch, Squall reached out his hands in a last ditch attempt to stop his fall.

A second later his rope-burned palms found a sturdy tree limb and he latched on with all the strength he had left in his muscles. Again, a jolt of pain surged through his body at the sudden stop but he managed to hold tight. Shuddering from the sting, Squall forced himself to breathe and directed his spinning vision down in the direction where he thought the ground was. It took him a few seconds to recognize that what he was staring down at was grass and a pile of dried up leaves.

Closing his eyes, Squall relaxed his grip on the branch he was clinging onto a let himself fall down to the forest floor, only about a four foot drop. He had made it. This time, he had actually made it. He hurt like hell, but he had made it back to the ground in one piece.

OoOoOo

Cloud was pretty sure that he had an honest to god heart attack after Leon let go of his hand. As the convict slid down the rope it felt like someone was driving an ice pick right into his chest, "_Leon!_"

"Grab the rope, damn it! _Leonhart!_"

Beside him, Seifer looked ready to jump out after him but the two could only watch in horror as Leon fell, the brunette's foot snagging the rope before he continued his fall, disappearing into the trees with the sound of snapping branches. It was as if the forest had swallowed the felon whole; there wasn't a trace of brown hair, tanned skin, or prison orange left.

It had all happened so fast there hadn't been anything they could've done, but that didn't stop Cloud from blaming himself. If he hadn't let go—swallowing, Cloud leaned out of the helicopter, eyes feverishly searching for any signs of life. "Leon! Leon, can you hear me?"

Seifer jumped to his feet and slammed his fist against the speaker button. "Highwind, take us down, now!"

"—_Why? What happened back there?—_"

"Leon fell out of the chopper! Land this thing now!"

"—_What? Why didn't you goddamn tell me sooner?—_" A heavy sigh crackled over the radio, "—_I can't land here, the trees're too thick. I can see a road 'bout a quarter mile starboard, but it looks too narrow to land on. I'll have to take us back to the clearing we left and get us into some trouble!—_"

Cloud swore. Although they had just left it behind moments ago, they were probably a good mile or two away from the glen already. To fly all the way back there, then come back through the forest on foot to search for Leon, who knows what would happen by then. What if Leon needed immediate medical attention? What if…what if he had…if he had—

Seifer broke through Cloud's morbid train of thought, the SWAT's voice tense. "Do it! I don't care if those Organization punks are still around, I'll take them out myself!"

"—_That's not the trouble I was talkin' about! We're almost outta gas, practically runnin' on empty. This shitty piece of junk has damned awful gas mileage! If we go back, we ain't getting' back out the way we came in, that's for sure—_"

Cloud started as Seifer slammed his fist against the metal interior of the helicopter. "Damn it…!" The man took a breath and turned back to glance at Cloud and Cloud knew that the same thought had entered both of their heads.

With things as they were, they couldn't get Leon. If they went back to land at the field, not only would they be risking all of their lives again by chancing a second round with the Organization, but they'd be stranded out there until help came. That would take about an hour and by then the Organization would probably have six captives instead of three. Out where he was, Leon would probably be able to avoid recapture if he kept his head down—that was, if he was still breathing—but they'd be going right back into the lion's den.

But just leaving Leon there wasn't an answer Cloud was ready to accept yet. "I can rappel down to the spot where Leon landed. While you and Cid fly these two," Cloud motioned towards Riku and Zexion who had been dazed when the chopper's blades were shot at, "back to Twilight Town, I can make sure that Leon's not down there unconscious and bleeding to death."

Seifer scowled, "First off, if anyone were to go down there, it'd still be me." Holding up a hand as Cloud opened his mouth, the SWAT's frown deepened. "We went over this earlier, you could kill yourself trying. Plus, I've actually had basic field medical training, and you haven't. Second though, neither of us are using that rope to climb anywhere."

"Why not?"

The blonde soldier kicked angrily at the line. "When Leonhart got tangled up in it, that sudden stop caused the rope to overextend and it tore." Following Seifer's gaze, Cloud noticed for the first time that right where the line was rubbing up against the edge of the helicopter the fibers were beginning to fray, "It's no longer safe to use!" Ripping off his knit cap, Seifer raked his fingers through his cropped blonde hair, "Damn it, if you'd just held onto him—"

"—No, he was the one who let go of me!"

"Ugh…"

Chest heaving, Cloud cut off his tirade as a moan echoed up from the back of the helicopter. "My head…the hell's all the noise about?"

Taking a breath to try and calm himself, knowing now was not the time to loose his temper, Cloud shifted his attention away from Seifer and onto Riku who had apparently been brought to by their yelling. "Leon's gone."

Instantly Riku was nearly wide awake. "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

Instead of responded with a verbal answer, Cloud turned his gaze towards the open helicopter door. Though still groggy, Riku was quick on the uptake, his teal eyes widening. "He, he fell out? Seriously? What the hell? Turn this shit around and let's go get him!"

"We can't."

"What do you mean, 'we can't'? You're the one who's supposed to be in love with the g—"

Riku jumped as Seifer burst into their conversation. "He means _we can't_." Taking a step over to the door, Seifer heaved it shut. "Now sit down and shut up!" Turning back around, Seifer pressed the speaker button down again. "Highwind! Get us back to the airport as fast as this thing will go! As soon as we get this tank refilled, we're getting back in the air!"

"—_You got it!—_"

* * *

The trip back to Twilight Town's Municipal Airport felt like the longest flight of Cloud's life. On the way there he had tried to distract himself by attempting to revive Zexion and interrogate Riku on exactly what had happened, but nothing was able to get his mind off of the fact that Leon had been left behind.

Everyone in the helicopter was upset about it but Cloud couldn't imagine that any of them was feeling the same sort of lung-crushing fear that he was internalizing. Then again, on the way back, Seifer refused to meet his eyes, refused to look up at any of them, spending the entire time staring down at the metal flooring with his arms crossed over his chest. Cloud tried not to think about what the other was feeling; he had enough trouble trying to sort out his own emotions, he didn't need to start prying into other people's too.

As his thoughts came back full circle to Leon, Cloud used the only trick he had left to push back ideas he wasn't ready to deal with yet; he called Axel. Before his partner even had time to say "hello" Cloud was telling him everything that had happened, from the moment they lifted off the ground that morning until the moment they realized that going back for Leon wasn't possible.

Axel knew enough from his tone of voice to stay silent and let Cloud talk until, as Cloud took a moment to breathe, he asked if they were going to need an ambulance to meet them on the landing field. With one glance over at Zexion, who was still passed out, and Riku, who still had dried blood caked on his face from an earlier injury, Cloud replied in the affirmative. Axel had promised to take care of what he could on his end then hung up, leaving Cloud alone again with his thoughts.

Cid must've worked some kind of miracle because when they finally arrived at the airport the helicopter was running on fumes. As promised, there was a squad car and an ambulance waiting for them, lights flashing, not to take their escapees back to jail but to an emergency room. After spending just enough time to make sure that Riku would go along quietly, Cloud turned back to Seifer. Cid had already jumped out to find someone to refill the helicopter so it was left to the two of them to make their plans.

Before he could speak, the door to the patrol car popped open and there was a flash of red hair before Axel was running over to them, "Cloud! I was just on the phone with the Chief—I already filled him in on what happened—and he wants to know what your next move is."

As the redheaded detective joined their small huddle, Cloud glanced up at Seifer, "We were just about to figure out what that's going to be."

Scowling, Seifer leaned back against the side of the helicopter, his sharp blue eyes turned to watch for Cid, "The only thing to do is to get back up in the air as soon as we can and get back to that field. That's the closest landing site to Leon's position that we know of, so we'll have to deal with whatever's still waiting for us there. Afterwards, we can spread out in a search group and scan the area for him."

Straightening up, Cloud frowned, "I think I remember where he fell, or at least can narrow it down to a small area. We should just head directly there—"

Seifer interrupted with a shake of his head, "I don't think so. We need to spread out. Leon was injured before it even happened, but since his fall was slowed when his foot caught on the line and then by the trees, I think that there's a very high possibility that he survived it." Cloud felt his heartbeat quicken. Seifer's self-assured tone of voice quelled a bit of the fear in his chest, "Unless he hit his head wrong or passed out, he probably moved himself to a different location."

Axel crossed his arms, "Why would he do that? Aren't you supposed to stay in the same place when you get lost in the woods?"

The deadpan look Seifer shot Axel before going back to looking for Cid told the detectives that Axel had just said something very stupid, "Please, Leonhart's not a five year old kid. If he's able to move—and that guy is so damn stubborn that I think he will be—he'll move himself out further into the woods. He's been trained to lay low when being pursued by the enemy and so he'll move just in case they saw him fall and know where he's positioned."

The assurance in Seifer's voice hadn't faded but something about what the SWAT said didn't sit right with Cloud. He knew Leon did often fallback on his military training when he was put in rough situations but, "I…don't think he'll do that. Now that they've escaped from the Organization, it's true that the Organization will be out looking for them, but the Organization will also be out looking for other hostages to take. If Leon's able to move, like you say, I don't think he'll go further into the woods…" Thinking on it for a moment longer, Cloud nodded to himself. Imagining he was there with Leon, with all of these thoughts going through the brunette's head, Cloud knew that there was only one conclusion that Leon would reach.

"When we were up in the air, when Leon was falling, Cid mentioned something about a road off relatively near-by. If Leon saw it, he'll head towards that."

"What, do you think Leonhart is some kind of idiot? That would be the last place he would go, the Organization would find him for sure!"

"I don't think he's an idiot, I just think he had a one track mind. If there's a chance that the Organization is out looking for new hostages, one of the next persons on their list is probably Leon's younger brother, Sora. If he heads to the road, he might be able to flag down a passing car and get into town faster. He wouldn't wait around to see if we were coming back for him."

"Listen, I know Leon cares about his brother, but there's no way he'd do something that stupid."

Cloud begged to differ; Leon had done a lot stupider things for Sora in the past. The more he thought about it, crawling towards the road and hitch-hiking back into town sounded like it was right up Leon's alley. It didn't look like he was going to convince Seifer that his SeeD companion would ever pull such a stunt though. "Fine, how about this? We'll split up to cover more ground. You go back up with Cid in the helicopter and go through with your plan while I take my car and search the roads."

Scoffing, Seifer straightened up as he finally caught sight of Cid hurrying back over to them followed closely by a fuel truck. "Fine. Do whatever you want."

"Alright. Call if you find him."

"And if by some miracle you find him, you do the same."

Cloud brushed off Seifer's condescending tone. He didn't have the time to pick fights. Instead, he turned to Axel and began to push his partner back to his squad car, "Ax, I need a ride back to the station to pick up my car."

"Sure. Do I get to come with you this time?"

Cloud shook his head as he jumped into the passenger seat, "Sorry. I still need you back at the station, especially now that the Organization might be out for a little revenge. I'll need you to monitor Sora and Demyx for me to make sure that they don't go missing as well."

Sighing, Axel climbed into the driver's seat and slammed the door. "Fine! I feel like I've been demoted to a secretary…"

"Shut up and drive."

* * *

Sora was sitting on Demyx's couch in the musician's apartment, both trying to keep their minds occupied with a videogame, when the tension in the room was shattered as the phone rang. Jumping about a foot into the air, Demyx juggled the game controller in his hands before letting it drop to the floor in favor of diving for the cordless phone sitting on a side table. Sora immediately put the game on pause and watched as Demyx answered with a shaking voice, the man's face pale, "H-hello?"

"_Demyx…_"

"Oh my god, Ienzo!" Sora's face brightened and he moved closer to the older musician, the dirty blonde shifting so that Sora could sit next to him and listen, "Are you alright? Where are you?"

"_Mn…not so loud, please…I seem to be in the Twilight Town hospital…_"

"What? Are you okay?"

"_A doctor said something about contusions and a broken rib…Either way…what about you? Are you alright? Has anyone come to the house?_"

"No, no one's come by. Well, I mean Sora came by this morning and is staying over, with everything going on, but other than that, we haven't heard anything! What happened? Where were you?"

"_We were…kidnapped…the Organization seems intent on retribution. I had to call to make sure you were alright, they might be coming for you…_"

Sora bit his lip anxiously then nudged Demyx's shoulder. The man blinked down at him before nodding, "Right. How're the others doing? Leon and Riku?"

There was a pause before Zexion spoke again, "_Riku has fared better than I have and…to my knowledge, is scheduled to be released soon…but Leon…is Sora listening in?_"

Sora's heart fell back into his stomach. Oh no. Oh god. "Yeah."

"_After I…regained consciousness and before we were moved to different wards, Riku told me that Leon…had not made it into the helicopter that they rescued us in. But, they are going back for him, Detective Strife and his team._"

Sitting back against the couch, Sora covered his mouth with his hand. Squall hadn't made it back yet. That everyone else had got back but his brother hadn't…he couldn't wrap his head around it. Squall…Was he alright? Where was he?

* * *

As soon as they pulled up into the Twilight Town Police Department, Cloud didn't even bother going back inside the precinct and just jumped out of Axel's car, ran across the parking lot, and dove into his own car. Gunning the motor, he peeled out of his parking spot, nearly side-swiping Axel as he swerved back out onto the street.

Reaching under his seat, Cloud grabbed a detachable police light he had stored in his vehicle and, while steering with one hand, reached out the window with his other had and snapped it on. He didn't have any time to waste. For all he knew, Leon was bleeding out under a tree somewhere, on the brink of death. Or worse.

Cloud was taking a gamble by driving out to find him but he was sure that he knew Leon enough to know what the ex-soldier would do. He prayed that he had made the right choice.


	12. Chapter 12

Yay, another update! Action-y chapters take a lot out of me; luckily this one has some soft, squishy parts that made writing it a little less…intense? Anyway, in other news, congrats to Spain for winning the World Cup on Sunday! Both teams played well, but after America and England got knocked out, Spain was my number one choice, so I'm a happy camper. :) Lastly, I have made a Livejournal account, because apparently I need more ways to procrastinate. So if you want to friend me, stalk me, whatever, it's now set up as my "homepage" link on my author's page.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: RkM4U, ramen-is-my-goddess, Stellar Eclipse, , Shinimegami7, r a a i n, Dragi, FuzzyLion, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, The Shadow of Avalon, Aindel S. Druida, xacilia, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, BaneDane, Clockwork Phoenix, BlooJhay, Tsubasa-Faye, Becca86, Mirror and Darkling, ChaosGarden, mello-jeevas, YumiStar, kingdomheartslover13, Celestial Secrets, Oreo, chibi heishi, Kareian, nearcreature, BRP, and SlippingSanity! You guys are awesomer than ever before! :D

O

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

Lights flashing blue and red, Cloud pushed his car as fast as the roads would allow and drove back into the woods. It took a lot longer by car than it did by helicopter and as trees flashed by Cloud began having second doubts.

Should he have just gone along with Seifer and ridden back with them in the chopper? Would Leon really have hidden out deeper in the forest, if he was able to move at all? The sole basis of Cloud's theory was that Seifer had guessed that Leon had survived the fall and would be stubborn enough to get up and move no matter how injured he was. Cloud knew that Leon was stubborn enough—thanks to first hand experience—but there were limits to how much a person's body could take, even Leon's.

After about twenty minutes of driving, Cloud's grip tightened on his steering wheel as he was forced to slow down as he turned off the main, paved road and onto a dirt side-street. This region was mostly, supposedly, unpopulated forest, but the occasional hunter, backpackers, or campers did come down this way so it wasn't completely unreasonable to say that Leon might have wandered down here in hopes of getting a ride back to town.

The more Cloud thought about it though, the more ridiculous it seemed to him. The man was injured, handcuffed, dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit, and was being hunted down by one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the country, and Cloud's guess was that Leon was going to stumble to the road and ask whatever random stranger who happened to be passing by for a ride back into town. Seifer was right, it was stupid, it even sounded stupid in his head, but was worse was that he could still imagine Leon doing it. If he had a working muscle left in his body, Leon would do whatever he could to get himself out of there and back to Sora, who would be needing protection.

Seeing another vehicle, a beat up old truck coming down the road, Cloud pulled over to the side as far as he could without getting the side of his car scratched up by tree branches. The path was so small that the truck was just barely able to squeeze by, though it gave Cloud a very good few of the inside of the vehicle. The driver was a large, burly man with a hat pulled down over his face; Cloud wanted a reason to be suspicious, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for your average hunter. He didn't know whether he was disappointed or relieved when he didn't see any sign of Leon sitting in the passenger's seat.

Using the short pause to his advantage, Cloud checked the map he had laid out in the passenger's seat and knew he was getting close to the area where Leon had fallen. There was no point in wondering anymore whether or not he had made the right choice by driving out here now that he was already here. Now he could only do the best he could with what he had.

Once the road was clear Cloud drove through another mile of potholes and dust then stopped as soon as he found a decent place to pull over. His heart was pounding a million beats per second in his chest but he forced himself to keep a level head. He was here to find Leon. If he didn't find Leon, it didn't mean he was dead, though he couldn't let himself hope that that wasn't a possibility. It just meant that Leon was somewhere else, maybe even that Seifer had found him. Cloud would even be happy if that happened; as long as Leon got home by the end of the day, he'd be happy. Finishing up his self-coaching session with a deep breath, Cloud schooled his expression into its usual calm in the rearview mirror before stepping out of his car.

Brown dirt from the summer-dried road instantly coated his black leather dress shoes as they hit the ground, the handgun he had holstered at his side settling against his hip as he closed the car door behind him. Loosening his tie as the heat beat down on him, Cloud shielded his eyes from the sun's glare as he stared into the wall of trees that stood up ahead. No signs of orange jumpsuits or human life in general. Quickly quelling a flare of anxiety as it rose up again, he ventured further from his vehicle and into the woods.

What had he been expecting? For Leon to be literally sitting on the side of the road waiting for Cloud to come by and pick him up?

A man could hope…

Cloud blinked as he stepped into the line of trees and was covered in a blanket of shade. It was quiet, almost too quiet for a forest, and the near-silence did nothing to ease the tension built up in his body. Since he hadn't found Leon right on the side of the road that meant that he now had a huge area of land to search and he wasn't sure how to start his one-man search party. There was only one idea that came to mind and, as simple and stupid as it was, Cloud decided to go for it.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled as loudly as he could, "_Leon!_ Leon, are you here?"

He was met with nothing but silence. Swearing under his breath, Cloud picked his way further into the forest and tried again, "_Leon?_"

Glancing back, Cloud checked that he was walking parallel to the road and continued on, his eyes watching for even the subtlest of movements. Every second seemed like a nightmare to Cloud and the more that passed the worse the feeling got. He knew the clock was ticking; the clock would be ticking even if this had been an ordinary missing persons case but with the threat of eminent death thrown into the mix—either from injuries or being gunned down by the Organization—the amount of time they had to realistically find their target alive shrunk infinitesimally.

"_Leon!_"

He felt like an idiot and knew that if the Organization was running around he was putting himself in danger by screaming his head off, but honestly, what else could he do? Was Seifer really doing anything better than this?

"Leon, where are you?"

"_Leon!_"

OoOoOo

"…_Leon_…!"

Squall jerked awake, his eyes flying open as he sat up. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep. Lifting a hand to feel at the cut at his hairline, he made a small noise as his hand came away without any fresh blood on it. Good, at least he still wasn't bleeding from there. He had wrapped up the gunshot wound on his leg as best he could with a piece of fabric torn off of his jumpsuit, so he had hoped that it had finished bleeding as well, but he couldn't be sure. If he had passed out because of blood-loss he was in a more dangerous situation than he had first anticipated. Then again, he also just could've passed out from exhaustion.

Quickly looking around for what had woken him up, Squall leaned back against the tree he was sitting under. He would give himself a minute to fully wake up then keep going, even if it meant having to crawl through the underbrush.

"…_Leon…?_"

Squall cocked his head to the side as a noise caught his ear. For the past hour or so, ever since his fall, he had nothing but the occasional bird chirping, but that had sounded more like a human voice calling his name. Gods…was he hallucinating now?

Maybe he shouldn't have moved himself from the spot where he had landed but every single instinct inside him had been telling him to get out of there. Where they told him to move to was a different story. He had been torn between doing what he knew was the smarter option, heading deeper into the forest to elude capture, or going with what his heart was screaming at him to do, try to find a fast way home.

In the end, there was really only one choice he could live with. As much as his SeeD training had been relentlessly drilled into his head even though it was part of how he defined himself, above all else he was an older brother, Sora's older brother, and he would be damned if anything happened to anyone he cared about just because he was worried about his own safety.

So he had done the only thing he could think of to do and headed for the road. But apparently he had fallen asleep on the way there. The last thing Squall remembered was sitting down against the tree to rest for a few seconds to stop his head from spinning. He needed to watch himself more carefully now; with the Organization on his trail, he couldn't afford to just pass out in the open again. Preferably, he wouldn't be passing out anywhere after this, but he couldn't be sure about that.

The real question now was what had woken him u—

"…_Leon_…!"

—Alright, that time he had heard something for sure.

Squall pushed himself up into a crouch, using the tree behind him as a temporary shield. Turning his head, he tried to figure out where the voice had been coming from. The voice was adult, male, and familiar but he had to be careful. It could be a trick to lure him out and he didn't have enough faith in his senses right now to think that he would be able to recognize them by their voice from so far away.

Whoever it was was coming closer though and the next time they called out, Squall was able to put the doubts in his mind to rest. "…_Leon?_"

Cloud. It was Cloud. Did he come back for him, or had they ever left in the first place? Grimacing, Squall slowly stood after way too much effort, his body stiff and tired. Using the tree trunk for balance, he waited a moment to see if he was going to topple over before turning in the direction he thought the detective was in. "Cloud?"

There was a short pause before Cloud's voice picked up again, this time with a little less of that desperate undertone in it. Squall couldn't see the blonde yet, but he was pretty sure he had pinpointed the direction the detective was coming in. "Leon! Where are you?"

Where was he? What was he supposed to say, 'I'm by a tree?' "Over here!"

"Which direction?"

Squall heard the sound of twigs snapping underfoot and knew Cloud was getting closer. "It sounds like you're straight ahead of me!"

The rustling noises picked up and less than a minute later, Cloud answered back. "I see you! I can see you, hold on!"

Squall didn't have to wait long. A second later, he saw a flash of blonde through the trees and then Cloud came bursting through at a run, slowing as he drew closer. Seeing the detective look so worried about him was refreshing, though by the way the concern didn't fade from the other's blue eyes Squall knew that he must look pretty bad.

Close enough now, Cloud put his hands on Squall's shoulders as if to hold him up. "Leon, are you alright?"

Scoffing, Squall bit back a wince as the movement caused a bruise on his face to stretch. "…Do I look alright?"

Sighing, Cloud ducked his head before lifting his chin to look up at Squall's face. "No. You look like hell warmed over." Squall let his eyes close as Cloud reached up and grabbed his chin, his fingers surprisingly gentle as he turned Squall's head from side to side. "You've got a pretty good cut on your forehead, and I'm not even going to ask what happened to your leg until we get you to a paramedic…"

As Cloud's voice trailed off, Squall opened his eyes again to find the blonde staring straight back at him. Something seemed to cause Cloud's breath to catch in his throat and Squall would have wondered what it was had his thoughts not been already occupied. How hard would Cloud hit him if he fell asleep again right now? Finding the detective, or having the detective find him, had sent a calm feeling washing through him and now all Squall wanted to do was tell Cloud to sit down so that Squall could fall asleep on his shoulder.

As if reading his mind, Cloud's mouth suddenly drew up into a tight line and Squall was snapped out of his daydreams as the hand holding his chin let go of his face and punched him in the arm.

"Ow, damn it!" Squall clutched at his abused limb as he reeled back, the small hit almost knocking him back to the ground. "What was that for?" He hadn't even done anything yet!

Cloud tisked then reached out to steady him. "That was for getting so close to the road! You could've been seen!"

Brushing off Cloud's hands, Squall scowled. "That was the plan."

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. "You were really going to hitchhike back into town?"

"What? No, I'm injured not delirious." At least he hoped he wasn't. He wasn't impaired enough to think that he could get anyone who wasn't working for the Organization to pull over and give him a ride back into town looking like he did, dressed up in a bloodstained prison uniform.

"Just what were you planning on doing then?"

Squall blinked. What had been his plan? He had come up with one at some point when he was stumbling through the woods. "I…I was going to wait for a passing car, a hunter or something, then come out of the trees long enough for them to see me. I thought that anyone who saw something like this," Squall waved down at the clothes he was wearing with both hands, his wrists still connected by handcuffs, "would call the cops and then someone would come and pick me up."

"That almost sounds well thought out."

Squall frowned. "You almost sound surprised."

"It's just—" Cloud stopped himself mid-sentence, his hands going back up to softly rest on Squall's shoulders as he let out a breath. "Just, forget about it. Right now we should be getting you back to the car. You look like you're about to fall over."

Squall wasn't surprised. He _felt_ like he was about to fall over, but that didn't mean he liked it to be pointed out. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Here, give me your arm. You can lean on me on the way there."

"I said I'm fine."

"And I said give me your arm." Cloud put his hands on his hips and Squall would've labeled his expression as exasperated if there wasn't still such a high level of worry reflecting in the other's blue eyes. "For once, just let me help you, Leon, without causing a scene."

Rolling his eyes, Squall prepared himself for another argument. "I don't need your help, Cloud. I'm strong enough to do it myself."

There was a pause while the two just stared at each other, both two stubborn to look away. Then the unexpected happened and Cloud's face hardened into a serious expression. "Usually, you'd be right; you would be strong enough. But not today. Today you need help so, for once, let me be strong enough for the both of us."

The amount of meaning behind Cloud's words was staggering and Squall took a moment to search the detective's face. Since he had been a teenager, there were very few people that Squall knew who were stronger—in any meaning of the word that you wanted—than him so he had learned to rely on himself. Now he could count the number of people he knew he could depend on on one hand. Despite whatever was between them, he had never thought that Detective Cloud Strife could be one of them. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I'm stronger than you think I am. After all, two years ago I managed to juggle three psychotically-inclined suspects, a turn-coat partner, a double agent superior, and an emotionally-distraught brother, keep an entire police force from falling apart, a city from tearing itself apart, and help design the prosecution's argument against a bloodthirsty mob group for the trial of the century, all within the span of a week. Maybe you heard about it?" Squall would've protested but he spotted the corner of Cloud's lips twitch up into half of a dry smirk. "For all that, I didn't even get a raise, I got reprimanded."

Shaking his head, Squall finally slung his arm over Cloud's shoulder and immediately one of Cloud's hands reached up to grab his wrist while the other tucked around behind Squall to steady him. Withholding a sigh of relief as some weight shifted off his injured leg, Squall looked over at Cloud. "I'll let you help if it will stop your complaining."

Cloud snorted and the half-smirk on his face spread into a full smile as they began to hobble back towards the road. "Oh, believe me, I hadn't even gotten started yet."

Squall completely missed what the blonde said, too caught up in Cloud's face as he was led through the woods. Was this the first time that Cloud had ever smiled at him before? Squall's mind flashed back and, no, he couldn't remember a single other time with the stoic detective had actually, genuinely smiled at _him_. How messed up was their relationship that the first time Cloud had smiled at him in two years was when he was getting his bloody, bruised-up body dragged back to a police car through an Organization-infested forest?

Shaking his head again, Squall turned his attention back at the situation at hand. When Squall had failed to answer back, a silence had fallen between them. Cloud didn't seem bothered by it, probably didn't even realize that he had done anything strange, but for Squall the silence felt so constricting that he had to break it. Looking down at his arms, still latched together with handcuffs, he tilted his head to look down at Cloud. "…I don't suppose you have the keys to these with you? It'd make it a lot easier to move around."

Cloud's neon blue eyes flashed up. "I'm sure it would, but you'll have to wait until we get in the car. I keep a spare key inside."

"Great…"

Squall didn't know how long it took them to walk, or in his case limp, back through the woods, all he knew was that he didn't think he had ever been so happy to see a cop car in his life. Staggering down to the packed dirt road, Squall propped himself up against the hood of the car as Cloud slid away and around to the driver's side of the vehicle. A second later the doors were unlocked and Squall fell into the passenger's seat with a grunt of relief.

Leaning back against the headrest, Squall turned his head towards Cloud as the blonde climbed in and started up the car, "Keys?"

"Huh? Oh, right. You know, considering you are still a convicted felon I could get it a lot of trouble for this." Leaning across the mess of police gadgets set up in between the two front seats, Cloud popped open the glove compartment. He had to dig around for a minute before the detective retrieved his hand, a small silver key held between his fingers. "Hold out your arms."

"I can do it."

"I thought we already had this conversation." When Squall just stared back at him, the blonde scowled. "Arms. Now."

Not having the energy to keep fighting about it, Squall grudgingly obeyed and leaned over as Cloud pulled his hand closer. The detective was obviously familiar with how handcuffs worked; in the blink of an eye Squall heard a very gratifying click and the metal fell away from his skin.

He was about to pull his hands back when Cloud's grip around them suddenly tightened, the blonde's eyes hardening. "Leon, what happened to your wrists?"

Squall let out a hum of confusion then looked down. His wrists were worn red and bruised where the cuffs had been. Letting a dry smirk settle on his lips, Squall shrugged. "About what you'd expect from someone who was trying to save his life and escape. They tied our hands to the back of a chair with rope too, it's probably where the rash is from."

He watched as Cloud continued to stare down at his hands, wondering what the detective was seeing. Squall had actually forgotten all about the damage to his wrists as soon as he, Riku, and Zexion had escaped—out of all the injuries he had they were the least of his worries. Cloud's thumbs brushed gently over the marks, the blonde's touch feather light as they skimmed over the black and blue lines, then suddenly pulled away. Whatever moment of softness that had just happened between them had passed and Cloud was back down to business. "We need to get you to a hospital."

Squall's response was automatic. "I need to see Sora first."

"Sora's fine. You, however, are bleeding all over my seat, so you're going to a hospital."

Growling, Squall turned to face forward in his seat as Cloud started up the car's engine. "I need to make sure he's alright."

"Like I said, he's fine. While you were gone, Cid Highwind has been taking care of him and right now he's with Demyx back in Traverse Town." Squall blinked in surprise and Cloud seemed to catch his shock without even having to glance over. "I _am_ somewhat responsible, Leon. The one who's going to be in trouble is you if Sora finds out that you skipped medical treatment in order to interrupt his and Demyx's videogame session."

The dark expression Squall had on never left his face but he crossed his arms and stayed silent. Somewhere inside of him, Squall knew that Cloud was probably right but that didn't mean that he had to be happy about it. He had just pulled himself through a forest to see that Sora was protected, not to go to a hospital.

As if sensing him brooding, Cloud glanced over as he pulled a turned back out onto the road towards Twilight Town. "You don't have to stay long, just let them patch you up and make sure you're not bleeding out internally."

"Whatever."

Squall heard Cloud sigh but kept his eyes locked straight ahead. Again a silence stretched between them but this time it was Cloud who decided to break it. Squall watched out of the corner of his eye as the detective's hands tightened on the steering wheel before he spoke. "After you fell, did the Organization come after you again?"

"If they did, I didn't notice."

A low hum escaped Cloud. "Good. Maybe they've given up for now."

"I doubt it. After we escaped, they wanted us dead pretty badly. After going to all the trouble to kidnap us and keep us locked up for as long as they did, they won't just give up."

"So are you saying you just got lucky?"

Squall shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they didn't see me fall out of the helicopter. Maybe they did but didn't know exactly where I landed. Or maybe they decided to use a different strategy. All I know is that, since I'm still alive, they didn't find me."

"Right. Well, I guess you at least know how to keep your head down…Which reminds me, a car passed by me when I was coming out here. I still had my lights flashing, so if he had spotted a prisoner on the side of the road, he probably would've stopped me. Why didn't you let the driver see you? Did you think he was working for the Organization?"

"…He might have been." The truth was that Squall had probably still been asleep when the car Cloud had seen passed by, but he wasn't about to tell the detective that. It wouldn't get him in and out of the hospital any faster if he told Cloud he had passed out.

Squall was pretty sure that Cloud knew his answer wasn't entirely truthful but the blonde appeared to be willing to let it slide for now, too concentrated on avoiding potholes to worry about interrogating him.

Despite the bumps in the road, Squall felt himself being lulled back to sleep by the sound of the engine and was just beginning to nod off when something caught his eye up ahead. Cloud had already perked up a little, his blue eyes glancing over when he noticed Squall was fully awake again. "There's a truck coming. It looks like the one I passed by earlier."

Squall narrowed his eyes as Cloud's hands tensed. "Do you think he's working for them?"

"You were the one who said they might have been a minute ago."

Right. He did say something like that, didn't he?

As the two vehicles drew closer together, Cloud reached over and pushed on Squall's shoulder. "Duck down. When he drives by, he'll be able to see you if he's looking but we might as well not make it easy for him."

With a wince, Squall lowered himself as much as he could in the front seat, the muscles around his injuries straining as he tried to hide. "If he's a civilian, this is going to look really weird."

"That's definitely not my biggest concern right now."

Squall didn't know if it was to make sure that he stayed down or to try and hide him a little more but Cloud's hand never left Squall's shoulder. As the detective began to slow the car, Squall couldn't see a thing out of the windows except for treetops and blue sky. "What's going on?"

"It's strange. He's not pulling off to the side."

"What?"

"Two cars can't fit side-by-side on the road so we both need to pull off to let each other pass. He's not pulling over."

Squall's jaw tightened. "So that means he's either an asshole or he's a member of the Organization…"

Their speed continued to drop until Squall was sure that they had come to a complete stop. When he spoke next, Cloud's voice was tense. "Maybe they haven't seen you yet. Stay down, I'll get out and talk with him."

Twisting his head so that he could look at the blonde, Squall frowned up at him. "You're not going out there alone."

Finally removing his hand from Squall's shoulder, Cloud used it to point at the gun holstered on his belt next to his police badge. "I'm a big boy, Leon, I can take care of myself."

"Just be careful."

Watching Cloud shift into park, pop open the driver's side door, and step out of the car alone was one of the hardest things Squall had done in a while. Which was saying something considering what he had just gone through. Thankfully for his sanity, Cloud left his door open so even though Squall quickly lost sight of Cloud as he walked out of view he could still hear what was going on outside.

He strained his ears as he listened to the sound of gravel crunching under Cloud's shoes as the detective walked up to the other truck. They must have come to a stop too, about thirty feet away if Squall estimated the length of Cloud's stride correctly. Fingers tightening on his prison jumpsuit, Squall bit his lip as he heard a knock, imagining Cloud rapping his knuckles on the truck's side window. After a moment, Cloud's no-nonsense voice drifted back to him.

"Twilight Town P.D. Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to move your vehicle to the side so that I can pass."

A heavy, low voice answered back, just barely audible from where Squall was hunched over. The driver of the truck must be a pretty big guy then. The knowledge didn't do much to relax Squall. "Sorry, but I'm in a hurry."

"So am I, sir, and I am on official police business. I'll ask you once more, please move your vehicle or I will write you up for obstruction."

"…Did you find what you were looking for?"

Squall's grip tightened and he could hear the frown on Cloud's face. "Excuse me?"

"You did. Then I apologize again."

"For what?"

"For what I'm about to do. He was a good adversary, you both were. But when you rank fifth in the Organization, you must do as the Superior wishes."

"What the hell are you—_shit_!"

No longer worried about hiding, Squall shot up in his seat as he heard Cloud running back, the detective jumping into the car, face pale, a second later. "What happened?"

Cloud spoke as he slammed his door shut, his other hand reaching around to buckle his seatbelt before flying to the ignition key. "We need to get out of here!" Shifting into reverse, Squall could only blink as in a flurry of motion Cloud threw him a cell phone while the detective himself grabbed the police radio, the car tires squealing as he punched the gas. "Call Seifer!"

Almasy? "Why? What the hell happened?"

"That crazy bastard has a grenade launcher!"

As soon as the word "grenade" left Cloud's mouth, Squall had flipped his cell phone number as was going through his contacts. "You think he's going to use it?"

"I'm not going to wait around and find out!" Whipping a head-spinning u-turn, Cloud pulled the radio up to his lips. "Detective Strife of TTPD, I've got an eleven-ninety-nine! Located on the back roads northeast of Twilight, in need of immediate back-up! Ten-seventy-nine, suspect has grenade launcher, repeat, grenade launcher! Dispatch, do you copy?"

Mouth tensed into a tight line, Squall shook his head as he found Seifer's number. Cloud had him listed as "Com. S. Almasy, SWAT". Squall hoped that Seifer hadn't seen that yet; his ego was already big enough as it was. Shaking his head again, Squall dialed as Cloud finished calling in his S.O.S. The phone rang once, twice, and on the third ring Squall turned around to look back through the rear window. What he saw nearly stopped his heart cold.

They had put some distance between them and the truck but Squall could still make out the shape of a large figure leaning out the driver's side window, calmly aiming a weapon he recognized immediately. Shutting Cloud's cell phone, Squall spun back around in his seat. "Cloud, pull over!"

"What?"

"That's not a grenade launcher, it's an RPG! _Pull over_!"

They could've outmaneuvered it or gotten away without too much damage if they had been fired on by a grenade launcher, but a rocket-propelled grenade was going to tear through Cloud's old police cruiser like it was made of tissue paper. The detective either knew the danger they were in or he knew to trust Squall when he spoke in such a panicked tone because the next thing Squall was aware of was the car skidding off the road as Cloud slammed on the breaks.

It was like Squall's nightmares come to life as he ripped off his seatbelt. "Get out of the car!"

"Get out? Are you crazy?"

Squall suddenly felt feverish as a rush of adrenaline surged through his body so strongly that it almost made him dizzy. Cloud didn't get it! They were going to get shot. A bomb was coming. A bomb. Cloud was going to get killed by a bomb. His dreams were becoming reality. With an animalistic growl, Squall lunged over and undid Cloud's seatbelt and hauled the blonde over to his side of the car as he kicked his door open.

"My keys—!"

"_Leave it_!"

Squall could no longer feel any of his injuries, couldn't feel anything except Cloud's arm tightening around his as he pulled them both out of the car. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion as from behind he heard the sound of a loud discharge, the sound of ignited gunpowder. Then, as he threw them into the underbrush, he felt Cloud gasp and a breath later a burst of light and noise exploded out from the road.

The blast sent them tumbling into the forest, both men letting out a grunt as they hit the ground hard. Time righted itself as Cloud wrestled himself free of Squall's death grip and jumped forward in time to see his car, or what was left of it, being devoured by flames. Stumbling back, Cloud nearly tripped over Squall, the detective's mouth hanging open, "What, what the hell…?"

With a wince, Squall pushed himself up onto his feet. All the pain had just slammed back into him but he knew they couldn't just stand around and wait for it to pass. "Cloud, we need to move."

"Y-yeah…Yeah, let's go." The blonde tore his gaze away from the bonfire, his blue eyes wide. Squall's words seemed to have brought him back to the present though. Walking over almost mechanically, Cloud grabbed Squall's arm again and without asking pulled it over his shoulders. "Come on. We can, we can go further in, that way they won't find us."

"What about getting back to Twilight Town?"

"We'll catch another ride."

OoOoOo

They walked what felt like one or two miles before they both agreed it'd be safe to stop for a rest. As Leon slumped down against a tree, Cloud checked their surroundings before sitting down next to him.

Cloud could feel his heart beating through his ribcage. To say that he had been scared was an understatement; he had been downright terrified. He would die before he admitted it out-loud, but he couldn't blame himself for it. He wasn't a coward, not by far, but he had never been on the receiving end of such a violent attack before, not even during his time as a beat cop on the streets of Midgar. Sure he had been jumped in dark alleyways, had criminals try and stab him and shoot him, but those were just part of the job. This…this had been different.

Leaning his head back, Cloud closed his eyes as he found himself leaning back against Leon, his head tucking up against the crook of the convict's neck. As he sucked in a deep gulp of air to regularize his breathing, he wondered how much excitement his heart could take before it just exploded. He hadn't expected the Organization to be packing such serious heat...And his poor car. Everything he had stored inside it…

Cloud lifted his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. The Chief had warned him not to cross the line; he was pretty sure he had just made a running leap over it without checking what was on the other side first.

The good news, what was the good news? Well, they were alive, which was a minor miracle in itself. And luckily they weren't completely out of options.

Opening his eyes again, Cloud tilted his head up to look at Leon's face. The other man had also had his eyes closed but they flickered opened when Leon felt Cloud's gaze on him. "You know…you could've told me why you wanted to pull over…"

Leon's voice was gravelly as he spoke, a sure sign of his exhaustion. "…There wasn't enough time."

"There never is…"

There was a moment's pause and Cloud had just managed to get his heart rate under control when Leon spoke back up. "…In an hour or so we can head back to the road and wait to see if anyone else passes by. With any luck someone heard your radio call and will come to investigate."

"It'd be easier to find Seifer. He should be around here somewhere…"

"What?"

Cloud nodded as he settled back against Leon's chest, being gentle enough not to irritate any wounds. Screw appearances. He was tired and Leon's body heat was too comforting to pass up because of pride. And Leon either didn't mind the contact or was too weary to do anything about it because the other didn't make any movements to push him away. "We both came in to look for you. I drove, Seifer flew back in to the glen with Cid."

He felt Leon's chest rumble as the man gave a small grunt. "Huh. Well…it'd probably be easier to find him if you give him a call first."

About to ask what Leon was talking about, Cloud blinked as the con reached into the torn pocket of his prison jumpsuit and pulled out Cloud's cell phone. Brows lifting in surprise, Cloud readily took the device from him. "In all that, you managed to keep a hold on it?"

"I _am_ somewhat responsible…"

Frowning as his own words were shot back at him, Cloud flipped open the phone and skipped to the most recent calls as Leon closed his eyes again. Quickly finding Seifer's name at the top of the outgoing calls list, Cloud redialed the number and pulled the phone to his ear. It had barely rung once when a voice burst over the line. "_Strife?_"

"It's me. I found Leon, but things didn't exactly go as planned."

Behind him Leon snorted in dry amusement as Seifer answered back, "_The hell they didn't. I got off the chopper's radio a few minutes ago after your partner, Flynn, called in. He said that dispatch had just received a distress call from you but before they could answer back they lost contact._"

"We ran into some trouble, but I'll save the story for later. Right now we could use a lift back to town."

"_Where are you now?_"

"Uh…" Cloud looked around, "About a mile or two east of the dirt road we saw from the helicopter. Look for a giant pillar of smoke coming up from what used to be my car and head towards that."

"_What? What hap—? Never mind. They'll be time for questions later. I'll be there as soon as I can so this time it'd actually be best to stay where you are. Is Leonhart alright?_"

Cloud paused. Seifer was unable to mask the concern in his voice even over a telephone line and it caused his stomach to tighten. "He's alive."

"_Keep him that way. Call back if you find anymore trouble._"

"Alright."

After waiting half a second to see if Seifer had anything more to say, Cloud hung up. His face twisted up into a sick smile as he looked down at the phone in his hands. Despite all his exhaustion, Leon still somehow managed to catch it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…besides what you already know about, that is. He's going to come and get us…" Cloud's voice trailed off before he snapped his phone shut and shoved it into his back pocket. Cloud knew he was about to ramble, could feel it coming, but didn't feel up to stopping the words from spilling from his mouth. He was just so tired, of everything; he didn't have it in him to keep lying to himself. "It's just…I should have called Seifer the moment after I found you. It's what we agreed on."

"Why didn't you…?"

Cloud couldn't tell if Leon was interested—or fully conscious—or not but he didn't care anymore. He just needed to talk. "I…wanted to wait." Cloud had thought about it, seriously thought about it, while they had been walking back towards his car but then had instead starting thinking about how much _he_ wanted to be the one to get Leon back into the city. He was a police officer, a detective. He made a living finding what others couldn't, whether it be evidence, murderers, or the truth. But this mission had been much more in Seifer's territory than his and Cloud had never wanted to show that he was still just as good as the SWAT more than at this moment. Before, he had always just wanted to do his job and do it right, but this time he had wanted, he wanted to be a hero.

And he had done _such_ a good job with that one…

"…Hey, Leon?"

"Hm?"

"You and Seifer…"

Cloud's voice trailed off again and he paused, unsure how to continue. Unsure of what he even wanted to ask. It must've made Leon curious though because his eyes opened up just enough for Cloud to catch flashes of stormy grey. "…Almasy? What about him?"

"You and him…you were close?"

"I guess."

Cloud sighed. He didn't like where his own mind was going with this. "Did you ever, you know...have a thing?"

Behind him, Leon shifted a bit as he finally realized what Cloud was getting at. "Seifer's not gay."

Cloud couldn't stop the small snort of laughter that slipped out. This was so not going to plan. That is, it wouldn't be if he had even had a plan in the first place. "He may not be gay, but he certainly isn't straight."

This caught Leon's attention even more—Cloud could feel it in the way the man tensed slightly against his back. When he spoke, he still sounded weary but the emotion was almost completely overwhelmed by the amount of disbelief in his voice. "Did he hit on you?"

"…Not exactly. But you and Seifer were never…interested in each other?"

"Not that I remember, and I think I would've. We had a habit of pissing each other off." Cloud couldn't help but wonder if that was how Seifer dealt with his emotions. Whereas Cloud just tried to bury them, it sounded to him like the other blonde liked to harass the people he fell for.

Leon was frowning now and wide awake as he straightened up, pushing Cloud off of him so that they could see eye to eye. "What's with all the questions? Did he say something to you?"

"A few things. Nothing you need to worry about."

Storm grey eyes narrowed as Leon looked into his face and, as hard as it was to ignore the dried blood streaking down from the criminal's hairline, Cloud found himself caught up in his gaze. There was something so compelling about it that he almost missed Leon's next words. Not quite though.

"Do you like him?"

"What?"

"Did you fall in love with Almasy? Is that why you're asking me about him?"

"What? No! I'm in love with y—" Cloud's sentence caught in his throat but it was too late. They both knew exactly what he was about to say and for a few seconds the two just stared at each other in shock. By their matching astonished expressions, someone probably would've thought they'd just been told the sky was really green. Swallowing, Cloud sat up straighter, mentally fumbling as he tried to think of a way to retract his words.

"…Cloud?"

"I, didn't mean—"

But had he meant it? It had just spilled out before Cloud knew what he was saying but…No. Alright, fine, he _liked_ Leon, but to say anything more than that would be moving into dangerous territory. With them each being who they were, it just couldn't work out. Could it?...Did he want it to?

Releasing a shuddering sigh, Cloud combed his fingers through his hair, tugging on a blonde spike while Leon just kept on staring. Cloud's whole life was about looking for the truth. Why was it so hard to express now when somewhere inside of him he already knew what it was?

As he tried to speak again, Cloud focused on the ground, wishing for it to swallow him up so he wouldn't have to deal with this right now. He didn't want to do this now, but he couldn't stop talking. Everything he had been trying to hide from himself was coming to the surface and he couldn't stop it. And it scared him more than watching his car getting burnt to a crisp by a grenade. "You're…crazy…seriously messed up, have a criminal dossier the size of a small novel, and nearly got me killed, multiple times, but I…" He couldn't believe what was about to come out of his mouth. "Oh my god. I do. I…I actually love you."

There was a long, drawn-out pause and Cloud could still feel Leon's eyes on him, still just staring. Finally, a small noise slipped passed the convict's lips before he managed to speak. "…And _I'm_ the one who's seriously messed up?"

Eyes sharpening, Cloud's head snapped up, "Hey, I was being serious, don't just—!"

This time he didn't have to cut himself off because before he could finish, Leon had leaned forward and was pressing their lips together. Cloud angrily responded and their kiss was rough, slightly awkward thanks to Leon's exhaustion, and still just as captivating as the last they'd shared over two weeks ago. It seemed like it had been forever since then.

Pulling away, Leon leaned their foreheads together, a small grin on his lips as their noses bumped and Cloud opened his eyes. "I was serious too. But…I'm glad you said it. I didn't like thinking that this was one-sided."

Flushing red, Cloud shoved Leon back with a scowl on his face. He had just blown the roof off of his limit of the amount of emotion he could deal with in one twenty-four hour period. On the other hand, Leon looked like he was actually relaxing. That smug bastard…he had it easy just because he hadn't been the first to say it.

Before Cloud's joggled mind could come up with a good enough response, his ears registered the sound of rustling from behind. As he tensed, Leon sensed the shift in the mood and instantly sobered up. "What is it?"

"I heard something."

Leon made a move to get up but Cloud stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Rolling up onto his feet, the detective motioned for the felon to stay silent as he carefully pulled his handgun from its holster. Another noise from behind the trees and Cloud was in a ready position, gun held outstretched in front of him in both hands. It was definitely a person, and they were coming closer. "Twilight Town P.D.! Drop any weapon you may have and come out slowly with your hands behind your head!"

There was a short pause, like the world was holding its breath, before a voice burst out from behind a tree trunk. "Strife?"

Cloud's shoulders drooped and let his arms fall to the side as from the bushes emerged not a bloodthirsty gang-member but the cause of his little confession to Leon. "Gods, Seifer, I was about to shoot you. How about you make a little noise next time?"

The other blonde scowled and holstered his own gun as he wadded through the last of the underbrush. "I didn't exactly know who you were either. All I knew was that I heard voices coming from over here so I decided to check it out." Immediately heading over to Leon, the SWAT kneeled down next to him. "Leonhart, you okay?"

Cloud watched as Leon blinked up at his former brother-in-arms. "Been better."

"You've looked better. Can you walk?"

"I'll manage."

"Right." Standing back up, Seifer nodded over to Cloud. "Get over here and take his left arm. I'll get his right and we can head back to the field. Cid's got the chopper waiting."

Happy that he was actually being included in Seifer's plan this time, Cloud did as he was told and the two blondes hauled Leon to his feet, much to his displeasure. "Would you get off? You don't have to carry me, I'll walk."

Seifer shook his head, "Sorry Leonhart, you'll have to suck it up. On my way here, I ran into some bad company so we don't have any time to waste. Besides, we're not carrying you, we're just supporting you, so you'd _better_ walk or else we're going to have some problems."

Cloud stumbled a few times as they started to move but soon adjusted to the pace Seifer was setting for them. Concentrating not only on his footing on the uneven terrain but also on making sure Leon wasn't tripping on anything, Cloud was only able to spare the SWAT a quick glance as they hurried through the woods. "How'd you find us so fast anyway?"

"Like you told me to, I just walked towards the line of smoke coming up from the road. You can see it pretty well from the field. What happened?"

Shaking his head, Cloud turned his attention back towards the front. Not only was Seifer setting the pace, but he was also taking care of the navigation, so all Cloud had to do was keep up. "Long story short, I drove in and parked, then walked around a bit and found Leon in the forest. We walked back to my car, but ran into a truck on the road that turned out to be working for the Organization."

At this point Leon took over the story, his tone almost clinical as he explained what happened next to Seifer. "The driver was carrying a reloadable RPG with high explosive anti-tank rounds. We managed to escape the blast, the car wasn't so lucky."

"Damn, brings back memories. I thought we'd left all that heavy artillery crap back in the desert."

"Yeah. Me too."

Left out of the loop, Cloud stayed silent, though his grip on Leon's arm tightened a little. As ridiculous as it was, he was trying to keep himself from getting jealous. He didn't know where it was coming from, he had never been the jealous type before. Then again, he had never been the relationship type before either.

Thanks to their hustle and Seifer's good sense of direction in another ten minutes Cloud found himself breaking through a row of trees only to look up at an eerily familiar glen. As soon as their group of three stepped out from the forest, a loud hum started up from the left and Cloud turned to see the most welcome sight he had landed eyes on in a while. A helicopter, its blades beginning to spin, sitting in the grass with the door thrown wide open, undoubtedly courtesy of Cid.

"Come on, let's move!" Seifer's voice echoed out above the growing noise. "I cleared this place out when we first landed, but it's possible more of those Organization thugs will show up!"

Cloud didn't need to be told twice. Making sure he had a firm grip on Leon, he ran for it as Seifer did the same. To his credit, Leon didn't slow them down, using whatever reserves of energy he had stored in his body to make it to the aircraft.

As they reached it, all three practically dove inside, Seifer the first on his feet as he turned around and slammed the door shut. Cloud watched from where he had landed, sprawled across Leon's lap, as Seifer then went over to the speaker and pushed the button. "We're all in! Get us out of here."

Leon shifted underneath him as Cid's voice crackled back through. "—_Yes, sir! And_ _remember to_ _close the damn door this time!—_"

Letting out a long breath, Seifer flipped the speaker off before turning around. Cloud blinked as their eyes met then flushed as he realized what the other man was looking at. Him, collapsed on top of Leon in a slightly less than platonic way. With a start, Cloud began to move but was stopped as Leon subtlety reached a hand around to his hip, holding him where he was. Looking back up, Cloud was surprised as he was met not with the punch in the face he was expecting but with a small, pained smile.

As soon as Seifer realized Cloud was watching, the smile morphed smoothly into an arrogant smirk and the SWAT walked over to stand over Leon, his hands crossed over his chest. "Hey, Leonhart, you know what P.D.A. means?"

Cloud actually felt a little sorry for Seifer as Leon opened his eyes and sent the taller blonde a weak glare. Sometimes Leon was just as unperceptive as he was. "Get off my back, Almasy. I've had a rough day."

"We all have, so save your fondling for later. If I have to watch this for the whole ride back to Twilight Town I think I'm gonna hurl, and this chopper doesn't come with airsickness bags." As Leon continued to glare, Seifer rolled his eyes, "It'll only take twenty-five minutes. I think you can manage."


	13. Chapter 13

Ah, lucky Chapter 13. This is what I would like to term a "breather" chapter. A little less actiony than the last perhaps, but just as important in its own right. At least, that's what I like to tell myself…

Anyways, huge thanks are necessary for everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, ChaosGarden, dumdam, RkM4U, kingdomheartslover13, TiedByYourHands, ramen-is-my-goddess, FuzzyLion, mello-jeevas, Kareian, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Dragi, r a a i n, Shinimegami7, Aindel S. Druida, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Becca86, Blah, Clockwork Phoenix, Stellar Eclipse, xacilia, A fan, YumiStar, .., Burning Saturn, , and Misu-Hoshi! You guys are the wind beneath my wings ;) Thanks as well to those who have "friended" me on Livejournal; it's fun to hear from you! ^_^

And a quick note to "A fan" who commented anonymously: I don't really do requests, but followers of my stories will note that I have a habit of writing bonus chapters as per reviewers' wishes at the ends of my stories. If you have a particular something in mind you want me to write, I'd advise you to wait until (er, "if") the last chapter and if enough people want to read it, it may be written.

O

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Chapter 13

* * *

Squall must have fallen unconscious again because the next thing he knew the vibrations from the helicopter thundering through the sky had stopped rattling the metal floor underneath him and someone was pulling him up. Letting out a short grunt, he opened his eyes to find Cloud hovering next to him, one of the blonde's arms wrapped around his shoulders. "You're awake?"

Not feeling up to talking, Squall settled on a tight nod. His body was aching in places he didn't even know could ache. Cloud's lips tighten as he gently urged him to his feet. "We just landed a minute ago. Seifer had Cid call in for an ambulance before we landed and he just left to make sure everything all ready for you."

Finally finding a reason to speak, Leon frowned, "I don't need an ambulance…" Gods, his voice sounded like he had gargled with sandpaper and gravel.

Cloud looked equally unimpressed with his refusal. "Yes you do, and it's my job to get you there. Come on, you can lean on me if you need to."

Squall was about to protest until he straightened up and the world swam in front of his eyes. Biting back a curse, he grudgingly shifted his weight so that some of it transferred to Cloud as the detective took his arm. He bit back a moan as they stepped down out of the helicopter and onto the grassy landing field, Cloud practically catching him as he stumbled out. Now that the adrenaline had completely worn away, Squall was left feeling like…what had Cloud said when he had found him? Hell warmed over? That sounded about right. He could barely even walk.

Luckily, he didn't have to live with it for long. A few seconds after they were out of the helicopter, Squall heard someone approaching from the side and didn't even have time to turn his head before he was being helped onto a stretcher. A small swarm of EMTs suddenly appeared over him and Squall struggled not to fight back against the feeling of being restrained, actually gripping the sides of the gurney to keep his hands down as they began to roll him off towards what must have been an ambulance that he had been too tired to spot.

Maybe Cloud noticed his tension because a moment later the blonde appeared at his side, the detective walking fast to keep up with the ambulance workers. "Don't worry Leon, everything will be okay. They're going to take you to the hospital."

Squall's jaw tightened as one EMT reached down to take his blood pressure. As shitty as he felt, he wished he had been able to make his way to the ambulance on his own two feet. This was just too much. "…Cloud—"

The lawman shook his head, "Let them do what they need to do. I'll meet you at the hospital!" A small jolt ran through Squall as they reached the back of the ambulance and he was loaded up. From down on the field, Cloud looked up at him, his blue eyes firm. "Behave yourself!"

Stifling a laugh, Squall barely caught sight of Seifer as the man jogged over to stand next to Cloud before his attention was drawn back to the EMTs as they promptly, though skillfully, stuck an IV needle into his arm. As clear fluids began to pump into his veins, the ambulance door slammed shut, the ambulance leaving his rescuers in the dust as it drove away.

OoOoOo

Once Squall was in the ambulance, the trip to the Twilight Town hospital passed by in a blur of sounds and color. He couldn't tell whether it was an after effect of the drugs they were giving him or of his exhaustion, but he didn't let his mind dwell on it too long and, just like with the EMTs earlier, tried not to fight it.

He disliked hospitals. Not because he was scared of doctors or injections or surgery. No, it was the feelings that had become associated with them. At first, those feelings had been focused on Sora and what Squall had to go through when Sora was still sick with his Leukemia. The panicked waiting, the absolute sense of helplessness, knowing there was nothing that you could do to save the only person you had left in your life…the fear of them dying. Now, on top of that, he could add the feeling of being weak to the point where you couldn't even move to list off reasons why he despised hospitals.

With these thoughts floating around listlessly in his mind, Squall wasn't aware of being fully conscious again until he slowly opened his eyes to find himself laying on his back, a light shining down on him. Blinking, he gradually took in his surroundings as the urge to sleep slowly dissipated.

He laying down on a, it was a hospital bed, an IV still attached to his arm, in a powder blue room. It looked like the same paint color his parents had used for Sora's nursery…Shaking the thought away, Squall slowly sat up, the bandages wrapped around his body constricting his movements. He was happy to find that, besides the IV, there were no other machines attached to him. He was less happy to find that he was in a cheap hospital gown that felt like it was going to slide off at any minute.

"Did you have a good nap, Leon?"

Furrowing his brow, Squall looked over to find that he had a roommate. A very familiar roommate. "Zexion?"

Setting the book he was reading down on his lap, Zexion nodded lightly back over at him. It was…weird, seeing him wearing such a light color, the hue doing nothing to make his pale, bruised skin look any healthier.

Frowning, Squall reached up and rubbed at his forehead, feeling a migraine coming along. "…How long was I out for?"

"I cannot be sure. They wheeled you in from the E.R. approximately an hour ago. Detective Strife and your brother stopped by but left a little while ago with some comment about getting something for Sora to eat."

"Sora's here?" How was Sora here? This was still Twilight Town and his brother was supposed to be in Traverse Town. It took two hours by car to get all the way out here, which meant—"What time is it?"

"Six twenty three in the afternoon. There is a clock on the wall next to the piece of archaic technology they call a TV."

It was already that late…If his mental clock was right, he should have been picked up by Cloud and Almasy around one, maybe two in the afternoon at the latest. Since it was almost six thirty now that would've given someone enough time to drive out to Traverse Town, pick Sora up, then come back. But it also meant that he had been out for longer than he had thought.

Settling back against his pillow, Squall took another look around the room he was in. Medium-size, sterile, fairly typical looking, though it did look like they could squeeze in three beds side by side if they wanted to. "Where's Riku?"

Zexion released an airy huff and picked his book back up. "He managed to get himself discharged already, so I imagine he is already back in Traverse Town by now licking his wounds."

"He wasn't hurt?"

"He was, but not too badly. Similar to yourself, really. A few cuts and scrapes, in your case a bullet wound or two, but nothing that really requires an overnight stay in a hospital. Meanwhile, some of us were not quite as lucky."

Squall wasn't really sure he wanted to ask but the look Zexion gave him told him that he was supposed to. "…So what happened to you?"

"One broken rib, another fractured, a nearly punctured lung, and bruising across sixty percent of my body, thanks for asking."

No wonder Zexion seemed cranky. "Sorry to hear that?"

"Yes, well…it is better than some of the alternative conclusions to our little adventure. And I suppose we have your friends to thank for that…"

"Yeah…We do." It was possible that he, Zexion, and Riku could've escaped on their own, without Cloud, Seifer, and Cid showing up when they did, but it would've been a lot harder. And they might not have managed to do it and end up as intact as they were now…Although that wasn't saying that much considering he was flat on his back laying on a hospital cot.

"Although there is a high chance none of it would have happened if the good detectives had kept us out of jail in the first place."

Squall blinked as a third voice answered back, "None of it would've happened in the first place if _some _people hadn't decided to take the law into their own hands. Again."

Looking over towards the door to their room, Squall saw that it had been swung open, Cloud standing on the threshold with a cup of coffee in his hand. After shooting a quick glare at Zexion, the blonde made his way over to Squall's side of the room. "It's good to see you up. How are you feeling?"

"Alright, considering. Where's Sora?"

Cloud's eyes widened a bit before he glanced over at Zexion again who by now had buried his nose in his book. "I should've figured the surprise was going to be ruined." Sitting down in an uncomfortable looking chair at the foot of Squall's bed, Cloud set his coffee down. "Sora's in the cafeteria finishing up dinner." As Squall opened his mouth, Cloud was quick to cut him off. "I didn't leave him down there alone, if that's what you're about to argue about. Axel's with him, working on some paperwork. We managed to convince the Chief to have the city provide you with health insurance for the time being so you won't lose your house after paying for this little visit to the hospital."

That was a problem that Squall hadn't even thought of yet. He remembered what Sora's hospital bills were like, even after a simple check up. He couldn't even begin to guess what the bill would've looked like for this. "Thanks."

Cloud frowned, his head tilting down so that his bangs were blocking his eyes. "Don't thank me. You all are under our custody. It was…it was the least we could do."

If that really was guilt Squall thought he heard in the detective's voice than hell must have frozen over while he was unconscious. Cloud had always put the blame on them—perhaps rightfully so—for any injuries they got while going off on their own. "It's fine."

"Right…" Finally looking back up, Cloud heaved a breath before taking a long sip of his drink. "Anyway, the doctor said that you were severely dehydrated, bruised up, and just in bad shape in general, but since the surgery to remove the bullet from your leg was successful, there's no real reason that you need to stay here now that you're been stabilized. So what do you think, do you want to go home or do you feel like you should stay here for a little longer?"

"Home. As soon as possible."

"That's what I thought you'd say." Standing back up, Cloud downed the rest of his coffee and tossed the empty Styrofoam cup into the trash. "Alright. I need to go sign some papers. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Squall followed the detective out of the room with his eyes then cautiously pushed himself so that he was sitting upright like Zexion. Taking it slow to make sure he didn't reopen any wounds, he waited half a second to make sure that nothing felt strained before relaxing a little. He knew Zexion had overheard their conversation but the schemer remained quiet; maybe he didn't have anything to say. More likely, he was giving Squall the cold shoulder because he got to leave and he couldn't. Which was fine with Squall. He could live with a little silence for a while.

As it turned out, he didn't even really get the chance to enjoy it. Cloud hadn't been lying about returning in a few minutes; it was six thirty exactly when he showed back up in the doorway, only this time he wasn't alone.

Managing a small smile, Squall tried to shield any visual signs of pain as Sora slipped past the detective and hurried into the room, nearly throwing himself onto his older brother. "Squall!"

"Hey, Sor."

Sora pulled him into a tight hug before pushing away, "Are you alright?"

Seeing the worry in Sora's sky blue eyes, Squall put on a small smirk, "I was feeling fine until you caught me in your bone-crushing death grip a second ago."

Pushing away as if he had been burned, Sora's hands flew up into the air. "Sorry!"

"I'm kidding, I'm fine." Subtly pulling in a long breath of air to keep his voice from shaking, Squall turned his attention to Cloud and the doctor who had filed into the room behind him. "Am I free to go?"

The doctor, an older man dressed in a typical long white lab coat, walked over and scanned Squall as if he was looking for puddles of blood to pool up under the bandages. "Within the last hour, the tests we've run had indicated that you should be alright if you choose to leave. However, you'll have to take it easy for the next week or so. By 'easy' I mean nearly constant bed-rest with little to no physical activity."

Squall's brows rose. Like hell that was going to happen.

"Don't worry Dr. Goldman, I'll make sure he takes care of himself."

With a sigh, Squall looked back up to find Cloud staring right back down at him, their glares canceling each other out. He had a sinking feeling in his chest warning him that the detective hadn't just said that to make the doctor feel better about releasing him early. The blonde's tone had been annoyingly firm.

"Then I'll leave him to you, Detective Strife. A nurse should bring a wheelchair in in a few minutes so that you can use it to transfer Mr. Leonhart here to your car."

Sora winced and looked down at Squall who had just enough self-restraint to wait until the doctor had stepped out before he exploded, "No way in hell am I going to ride out of here in a wheelchair."

A weak grin slipped onto Sora's face as Cloud's frown tightened in the background. "Come on, Squall. It'll just be until we can get you to the car. The wheelchair is just hospital protocol. Trust me, I know about this stuff."

"Screw protocol, I'm not riding in a wheelchair."

Sora tilted his head up with a sigh, his face showing that he had been expecting something like this to come up. Cloud on the other hand was apparently not going to stand for it. "You're getting in the chair, Leon. We're cutting enough corners just by getting you out now, since technically you're supposed to be kept for overnight observation. They're not going to let you just walk out of here."

Squall turned his head as Zexion joined in from across the room, a small smirk just visible on the other's face from behind the pages of his book. "If it makes your masculinity feel any better, I can close my eyes while they wheel you out, Leon."

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Zexion. You're not helping."

As if sensing that the argument was sliding out of control, Sora turned back to face Squall, "The faster we can get out of here the better, right? So just, go along with it for now. You've probably gone through a lot today, I think you deserve not to have to force yourself to walk out of here. Besides, the doctor just said you can't strain yourself remember?"

Suddenly realizing what was coming next, Squall leaned his head back, "No, Sora, I said I'm fine, alright?"

"But you're not, Squall! Come on, please?"

There was no way around it. Sora had already resorted to his most powerful weapon that Squall, no matter how many walls he put up, could never be immune to. With a short growl, Squall crossed his arms over his chest, jerking his chin down to stare at his lap. "Alright, alright! Fine. Just…stop with the puppy eyes."

OoOoOo

After Squall caved to Sora, the rest of the evening went by fairly smoothly. Well, as smoothly as could be expected. Squall allowed himself to be wheeled out of the hospital like an invalid and Cloud drove him and Sora all the way back to Traverse Town. The car they were using was, of course, a rental since Cloud's old car had been incinerated that morning.

When they got back to the Leonharts' house, Squall limped inside before Cloud could even offer any help. The detective quickly caught up with him however and immediately put him to bed. Sora was obviously on Cloud's side and between the two of them, Squall found that it was less bothersome to just give in for now. The more he refused their help, the more they fussed over him so it would've been a losing battle anyway.

As time slowly wore on, it was clear that Cloud had not been bluffing when he said that he was going to make sure Squall took care of himself. For two days now he had stubbornly insisted on staying the night, everyday suffering through a two hour commute each way by train to get from Traverse Town to Twilight Town. It made Squall wonder if the detective really was feeling guilty about what had happened. On the other hand, he was ready to admit that Cloud had good reasons for wanting to stay close. With him out of commission and the Organization still running around, it was best not to take any chances.

Which was how Squall found himself in his current situation: sitting up in his bed and waiting for Cloud and Sora to come in with dinner. The detective had just gotten back from the train station a little while ago and had gone straight to the kitchen to cook a late meal. From the bedroom Squall could hear him and Sora rustling around but didn't go out to investigate, knowing that it wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead he leaned back against the headboard and flipped on the small television Sora had brought in for him to watch and searched through the channels until he landed on a news program in the hopes that it would keep his mind occupied.

Squall only had to suffer through a few minutes of news anchors going on about some gala event in Dark City before Sora poked his head into the room. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat."

His little brother smiled knowingly. "Alright. I'll put together a small plate."

"What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti. Cloud says you're not allowed to complain."

"I bet he did…"

Sora was out the door before Squall muttered out his last sentence, which was probably for the best. In all honesty, it had been a relief when Cloud confessed his feelings, but things hadn't really changed between them because of it. There had been no loving smiles, no honeymoon phase…Of course if that had happened Squall would have been thoroughly weirded out. It probably didn't help that he was confined to his bed or that Cloud was seriously starting to wear on his nerves by keeping him there.

"Here you go." Squall looked up as Sora walked back into the room balancing two plates and glasses with Cloud hot on his heels. "I just brought water for you to drink. If you want something else—"

"Water's fine, thanks." He was pretty sure the beer he wanted was going to be out of the question given his condition and present company.

Squall accepted his dinner plate with a small grunt of thanks as Sora perched himself on the edge of the mattress. Turning to Cloud as the detective walked over to his side of the bed, Squall sent the blonde a look as Sora took control of the TV remote. "I can make it to the kitchen table, you know. We could eat there like normal people."

"I'll keep that in mind, now scoot over."

Rolling his eyes, Squall nevertheless made room for Cloud to slip in beside him. The blonde didn't seem bothered by Squall's attitude and simply set his glass on the beside table closest to him and his plate on his lap as his blue eyes flickered up to the television. "Anything interesting on the news?"

"No, it seems like it was a slow day."

"Good. We could use more of those."

Taking a moment to eat, Squall frowned after a few bites. "Speaking of slow days, how is it going back at the station?"

Shoveling spaghetti noodles into his mouth like a starving man, Cloud paused long enough to speak. "It's been…hectic."

Squall watched as Cloud inhaled another mouthful of food. "Hectic enough that you forgot to eat today?"

Swallowing the bite, Cloud shook his head. "More like I didn't have the time. Axel and I have been swamped with this whole Organization thing. We've been trying to set up some sort of containment system but activity is starting to pick up again. Not just in Twilight Town either; I called Luxord, Detective Downes, yesterday and he said that Dark City was showing signs of activity as well."

Squall could tell Sora was half listening by the slight tilt of the teen's head but he let it go. He was sure that Sora already knew by now what was going on. "By 'activity' you mean…?"

"Little things. Extortions and stuff. It seems like they're trying to recover some of their old finances."

"Why?"

"If I have anything to say about it, we'll never have to find out. In the meantime though, we've been having trouble sorting out that mistrial submission against Judge Peters. Roxas worked his butt off digging up information against him but someone upstairs has rolled out some red tape for us to try and work around."

Glancing over, Squall saw that there was a deep glower on Cloud's face. It wasn't hard to guess what the man was thinking. "The Organization has someone planted in the court system?"

With a sigh, Cloud set his now-empty plate back down onto his lap. Somehow he had managed to finish his dinner while they had been talking. "At this point, nothing's out of the question…No matter how much I don't want to believe it, the only people I can trust completely is Axel, since he came clean two years ago, Roxas, and you guys, as sad as that is." Resting back against the headboard, Cloud seemed to deflate a little as he raked his fingers through his hair. "The worst part is, I can't even trust the other guys in the precinct, much less anyone outside the police department. Even the Chief…I can't let my guard down."

Cloud had obviously learned a hard lesson last time and it was clearly weighing on him. Frowning a little, Squall paused before he looked up at his brother, "Sora, can Cloud and I talk for a minute?" The "in private" went unsaid, but he was sure it was pretty clear.

Quickly interpreting what he wanted, Sora nodded after a moment of hesitation. "Sure. Here, give me your plates, I can take them back into the kitchen."

Although Squall hadn't eaten much of his food, he dutifully handed his plate over to his brother; he hadn't been that hungry anyway. Cloud gave Sora a small smile as he handed his over, "Thanks for helping out with dinner."

Cloud's smile was immediately returned two-fold. "No problem."

Together, Squall and Cloud waited in silence until Sora had retreated back into the main part of the house before either of them spoke. After the teen finally disappeared from view, Cloud turned to Squall as his hands crossed over his chest. "Alright, what's this about?"

Huffing at the detective's accusing tone, Squall tried not to glare at him, "I just want to talk." Just from the way he had been holding himself tonight, Squall could tell that Cloud was tense. If it was true that he only felt he could trust such a few number of people, he was probably carrying a lot of weight around with him and it wasn't going to be good for the blonde's health. "You just said that I was one of the few people you could actually trust, so I want you to tell me the truth without having to worry about Sora listening in. What's really going on?"

"What—I don't even know what you want me to say."

There was that wall between them again. This time though Squall was determined to break it down. "Just tell me everything that's happened so far. Maybe we can figure something out."

Cloud heaved another sigh as his eyes slipped closed, a sure indication that he had grudgingly relented. "Sure, why not? It's not like I don't spend the other twenty-three hours of my life thinking about it..." Taking a breath, Cloud didn't give Squall time to respond before he launched into it, "The situation was brought to our attention almost a month ago when Zexion and yourself had your lives threatened by a third party which was quickly identified as the Organization. Presumably Riku would've as well had he been more easily locatable. In a sick twist of fate, Roxas got mixed up with the gang member that attacked Zexion and ended up in the hospital. A few days later, the attacker wound up dead after crashing his car. The individual who left a bomb at your house was never identified."

"He was."

Cloud's brows shot up in surprise. "He was?"

Figuring that it was best that they were all on the same page, Squall nodded. "I hadn't planned on telling you this but…desperate times, right?" Cloud encouraged him with a stiff nod and Squall continued. "After the bomb went off, I may or may not have collected a bit of the evidence and Zexion, Riku, and I may or may not have gone to one of Zexion's associates to have it tested. It's possible that we got a name out of it and that we went to…take care of the problem ourselves."

"…That health clinic in Twilight Town where we caught you—?"

"—Was a trap. I guess the Organization knew we would find them and were ready for us. They lured us in and would've either killed us or taken us away then but we managed to do a better job at fighting back than they expected. They were the ones who called in the police, probably because they knew we'd be arrested and put on trial."

Squall could see Cloud's mind making mental connections, his blue eyes flashing. "They knew that you'd be put on trial and they had Judge Peters ready. The conviction was a part of their plan to nab you three on the transfer." The detective grit his teeth, "And Axel and I played right into it."

"You couldn't have known."

"But still, it's just—" Growling, Cloud shook his head. "Whatever. It happened, now we need to move on. Where does leave us now?" Squall wasn't sure whether the question was rhetorical or not until Cloud answered it himself as he began to think out loud. "The Organization has this all much more planned out than I thought and is using all of us as pawns. But I doubt they expected that you'd be able to escape from wherever you were being kept, so for the first time their plan has been thrown off. That means they'll probably be more dangerous than ever as they scramble to get back on track and we have no idea of what their 'end game' is."

"So, basically we're in trouble."

A dry laugh escaped Cloud and neon blue eyes drifted up to meet stormy grey. "Yeah, basically."

Squall met the detective's gaze before a frown slipped back onto his face as he remembered why he had started up this conversation in the first place. "I don't suppose that helped to make you feel better?"

"That was supposed to cheer me up?" After a moment's pause, Squall shrugged and Cloud rolled his eyes at the response. "Never become a counselor, Leon."

"I wasn't planning on it."

With that the two men were left with only faint sounds from the television to fill the silence. It wasn't bad though. For what may have been the first time, Squall actually felt that sharing the quiet with Cloud was…relaxing.

And apparently that was too much to ask for. Just as the news switched to tomorrow's weather, the sound of knocking reached them in the back room. Immediately both of them perked up and their eyes met as Sora called out from the hall, "Uh, hey guys? Someone's at the door."

Rolling off of the bed, Cloud hurried over to the dresser where he had set his gun holster after he had arrived. Squall made to get up as the detective strapped the belt on but stilled as Cloud called back out to Sora, "Don't answer it, I'll be right there!" His blue eyes flashed back down to where Squall was sitting and the blonde leveled him with a firm stare, "You stay."

Squall's mind was flashing through one dangerous scenario after another. The only person who ever came over to the house was Cloud, and he was already here. Save for Riku of course, who definitely wouldn't have been stupid enough to drop by while Squall was home. Was the Organization making their move? "Be careful. There's a knife hidden underneath the small table next to the front door if you need it."

"That's…frightening. But good to know. I'll yell if there's trouble."

Muting the TV, Squall held his breath as Cloud left the room and walked back out into the main part of the house. As he waited, he adjusted himself so that he would be able to spring out of bed at a moment's notice and wondered if Cloud had brought his SeeD-issued handgun back after the trial. If not, he could always make-do with something else—a kitchen knife, the poker from the fireplace. Sora would hopefully have enough sense to retreat back into the kitchen, which meant that Squall would have a clear path to the front door—

The sound of footsteps cut off his strategizing, their pace solid but measured instead of the rushed sprint of a hitman. As they walked closer, Squall leaned over a bit so that he could see who was coming down the hall. It was Cloud being followed by none other that…Almasy?

A hitman would have been less surprising. Running a hand through his hair as the two blondes stepped into the back room, Squall eyed Cloud for a moment before turning his attention to the newcomer. "What are you doing here?"

Seifer put his hands on his hips and smirked down at Squall before slowly surveying the room. "Well hello to you too. Nice place you got here."

Going over the words in his head, Squall had to take a few minutes before he decided that Seifer had actually been complimenting him and wasn't making some snide remark. "Thanks. It works for us." He was having a hard time getting over the fact that Almasy was standing in his bedroom. Even in casual clothes, his old commander still seemed out of place to him. Squall just had trouble with coming to terms with the idea of Seifer in a normal household environment. "But you didn't answer my question. What made you come all the way out to Traverse Town so late at night?"

"What, Detective Cloud here can visit, but I can't?"

From Seifer's smirk, Squall could tell that he was just joking around but something about the man's comment seemed to bother Cloud. Shaking his head, the shorter man shot a glance at Squall before turning grudgingly towards the door. "I'm going to see if Sora needs any help cleaning up the kitchen."

The two ex-SeeD watched him leave, Squall speaking up after Cloud left. "Alright, what's going on between you two?"

Sticking his hands into the pocket of the jeans he was wearing, Seifer turned a little to examine a photo of Squall's family on the wall. "How would I know?"

Squall narrowed his eyes, "You said something to him, didn't you? What'd you talk about?"

After a minute's pause, Almasy finally looked up and met his eyes only to give him a smug smirk. "Don't ask, don't tell, soldier."

"What? Did you—? No, you know what, I don't even want to ask." Taking a deep sigh, Squall crossed his arms. "You came all the way out to Traverse Town on a Thursday night to see me for the first time in years. What do you want?"

Snorting back a laugh, Almasy adjusted the white jacket he had on. "Fine, I'll just get down to it then. I'm sure Cloud there's been filling you in on the police's progress with the Organization. That is to say, they haven't found shit. SWAT is being brought back in to help and we're scheduled to go hunting through the woods over the next few days to try and find the base you and your little friends were taken too. The police already conducted another aerial sweep but wherever it is it's too camouflaged by the surrounding vegetation to pick out from the sky. I figured a good place to start would be to ask one of the only three people I know of who've been there about what you remember."

Exhaling, Squall took a moment to prod his memories. He remembered exactly what the room they had been stored in looked like but as for what he recalled about the building's actual location…"Unfortunately I don't remember much. I was pretty disoriented and more worried about making it out alive rather than paying attention to where I was running. I'm fairly confident that we hadn't been running for more than about half an hour before you first found us if that helps."

"It's something I guess. We'll have to go in on foot so it'll still take forever, but we can probably limit it to a three to four mile radius of where we first spotted you. If we can figure out where that was." A scowl worked its way onto Seifer's face. "Great…"

"Sorry you had to come all the way out here for that. You could've just called you know."

"Could've. But believe it or not, I honestly care whether you're recovering alright." Squall blinked. That had been, unexpected. "Anyway, it looks like you're doing okay, although I'm surprised that you've actually stayed in bed for this long."

"Yeah. Me too." The truth was it was a combination of Sora and Cloud's nagging for him not to strain himself and his own inability to walk across the room without wobbling that made Squall stay put. His strength was coming back but slowly, way too slowly for his sanity.

Seifer smirked again at his response, the man's sharp blue eyes going back to the photos on the wall. "Guess you've got people keeping you in line…" Seifer's voice trailed off before he seemed to catch himself and his gaze snapped back to Squall. "Well, thanks for the help, lame though it was. I'll be going out tomorrow with the boys to search the woods, so if you can think of anything else, let the Twilight Town Police Department know and they'll get the news out to me."

"Sure. I would show you out but—"

"I don't think either of us wants to see anything as pathetic as you trying to make it to the front door right now. I'll be fine on my own." Squall scowled, but didn't say anything back as Almasy gave him a quick wave. "See ya."

"…Watch your back out there."

Pausing as he reached the doorway, Seifer glanced back over his shoulder with a small grin. "Don't worry, I know how to take care of myself."

* * *

The fact that Seifer had come to visit Leon hadn't bothered Cloud at all. That is, it hadn't bothered him until he had left them alone to talk. After that, it might have bugged him a little. Maybe a lot. Damn it, when did he get so possessive?

Slouching down in his seat, Cloud turned to stare blankly out of the train window. It was the day after Seifer had paid the Leonhart house a visit and Cloud had just gotten off work at the station twenty minutes ago. He had no right to let Seifer's visit bother him. It was just business after all, the SWAT leader was just doing his job. Not to mention the fact that Leon still seemed oblivious to Seifer's feelings for him. Cloud had half thought that Seifer was going to confess something for Leon last night but the military man apparently hadn't said a word about it. That was fine with Cloud; if Seifer didn't want to say anything, Cloud wasn't about to step in and tell Leon for him. It wasn't that he was worried he'd get replaced…not really…maybe…

Shaking his head, Cloud focused instead on the world outside flashing past the train window. The locomotive had left Twilight Town behind about ten minutes ago and they were now rolling through the countryside dotted with small suburban oases. It was nearly dark outside, the long summer hours making the daylight stretch on for longer than was natural. By the time the train pulled into Traverse Town station it would be dark outside though. Luckily the darkness didn't bother him because he was going to have to walk from the station to Leon's house with only the streetlights to guide him. He was growing used to the nighttime strolls, already as familiar with the city as he was with Twilight Town thanks to his frequent visits over the past two years.

Growing bored with looking out at grassy fields and the occasional farmhouse, Cloud grabbed his briefcase which he had set down at his feet and rested it on his lap. With a quick flip of the lock, Cloud popped it open and pulled a sheaf of papers out. Although he wasn't putting in as many overtime hours as he usually did now that he had to commute down to Traverse Town every day, that didn't mean he was doing any less work.

As he got started on reading through a file Axel had printed out for him about a possible Organization-related case in Dark City, Cloud felt someone's eyes on him. Casually letting his gaze flicker up on the pretense of turning the page, Cloud quickly scanned the rest of the train car's passengers.

At first glance, they were all your fairly standard passengers: business men and women in suits with their eyes glued to their phones or schedule book, two young couples wanting to go into Traverse Town for a more exciting Friday night than could be found in Twilight Town, a few drifters.

Passing off the feeling as paranoia, Cloud returned to the report in his hands, his attention zeroed in on the printed text for all of three minutes before his focus broke. The feeling of being watched had returned along with a boost in its intensity. He knew someone like him, a young man dressed up in corporate conservative, shouldn't stick out much and certainly didn't warrant the stare he felt drilling into the side of his head. Another pseudo-casual glance around the car didn't bring any suspects to light though.

By now, Cloud trusted his instincts enough to believe that he was being followed, undoubtedly by the Organization. His best guess was that it was they were disguised as one or more of the drifters who usually would be able to pass unseen through the public. Either way, he couldn't be too careful. He wasn't about to lead anyone back to Leon and Sora.

Cloud managed to remain calm for the entire ride, knowing that it would be better to not show any signs of alarm. He even forced himself to read through the report he had pulled out in order to make some constructive use of his time. However, as soon as the train pulled into Traverse Town, Cloud was up and moving before the doors even completely opened to let passengers out.

He didn't know for sure who it was that had been watching him on the train so he focused on separating himself from anyone who had been in the same car with him. Using the small crowd of people flooding out of the train to his advantage, Cloud weaved through while keeping his peripheral vision watching for anyone who might be chasing after him. It turned out the extra bit of suspicion paid off.

From behind he caught glimpses of not one of the drifters he had been expecting but of one of the business men following at a distance of about twenty paces. There was no reason any sane person would be twisting through the crowds like Cloud was which left only one option. He was being tailed.

Quickening his pace, Cloud hurried down the steps of the train station and, while trying to look as nonchalant as possible, headed towards the one place he knew he wouldn't be followed: the Traverse Town Police Station. Cloud didn't want to go anywhere near the Leonhart household with someone coming after him and knew that, even though they were from different cities, the officers from Traverse Town would back him up in an instant if he asked them to.

For a while Cloud was able to hear a second set of footsteps shadowing his own, his grip tightening on his briefcase as he walked through the darkened streets towards the local precinct. He knew that there was a chance his stalker was simply waiting for the chance to kill him and didn't want to risk turning around and confronting him while he was alone.

Murdering a detective, however, didn't seem to be on the lurker's agenda. As soon as Cloud stepped into the courtyard where the Traverse Town Police Department was located, the second set of footsteps faded away. Finally chancing a look over his shoulder, Cloud just caught sight of the tail of a black trenchcoat before it disappeared around a corner.

Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, Cloud continued on to the police station. A few minutes later, after having gone inside and explained his situation to the officer in charge, Cloud was able to procure a ride out to Leon's house, just to be on the safe side.

Directing his make-shift chauffeur out to the Second District, Cloud gave the fellow police officer a grateful smile as they finally pulled up to Leon's house. "I can't thank you enough for the ride, Officer Brooks."

The older Lieutenant smiled back, "No problem, Detective Strife. I'm just glad we got you back safely. My boys and I will keep an eye out for your tail, but I can't promise we'll find him."

Cloud nodded in understanding as he stepped out of the patrol car. The man was probably long gone by now. "Thanks. If you ever make it up to Twilight Town, call me and I'll be happy to by you lunch."

"Someday I might take you up on that." Rolling down his window, the officer leaned out of the window as Cloud reached Leon's front door. "If you hear anymore from that guy who was after you, give the station a call and we can have a unit out here in under ten minutes."

"Hopefully you won't hear from me, but thanks."

With one more quick wave as the officer drove off, Cloud turned back to the door. Pulling a key out of his pocket, he quickly unlocked it and shut it firmly behind him as soon as he made it inside. Locking it again behind him, Cloud checked the windows to make sure that no one was watching before finally letting himself relax.

As he set his briefcase down, a voice echoed out from the kitchen. "Is that you Cloud?"

"Yeah, Sora, it's me." Heading towards the sound, he found the teen busily working away at dinner. The normalcy of the scene calmed him a bit more and he reached up to loosen his tie. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I've got it!"

"I'll be right back then, I need to talk to Leon about something."

Sora glanced up, curiosity written clearly in his large blue eyes, but it seemed he knew better than to ask. "Alright. Can you tell him there's ten minutes until dinner?"

"Sure."

Slipping out of the room, Cloud turned a corner and walked down the hall to where the door to the master bedroom was slightly ajar. Knocking once to announce his presence, Cloud stepped in to find Leon sitting on the edge of the bed picking at the bandages wrapped around his leg. "Stop playing with it or you're just going to make it worse."

Leon looked up at him with a small frown that seemed to be permanently glued on the man's face for the past few days. Cloud couldn't blame Leon entirely for his bad mood though; he knew the man was going stir-crazy. "I'll do what I want. It's my leg." Seeing Cloud's expression, Leon's frown deepened. "Did something happen today? You were a few minutes late."

Sighing, Cloud stepped further into the room, his hands in his pockets. "I was followed today on the train. I managed to lose them by leading them out to the Traverse Town PD, but until then they were pretty persistent."

"They were probably from the Organization. Did they try anything?"

"No. They must've been waiting for me to lead them to you."

"Great…they're closing in. Cloud, I—"

Blinking as his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, Cloud raised a finger to silence Leon as he pulled the device out and, not recognizing the caller ID, flipped it open. Leon released a small growl but let his sentence drop as Cloud answered the call, "Hello? Detective Cloud Strife speaking."

"_Detective Strife, this is the Prison Warden from Twilight Town County Penitentiary_."

Swearing in his head, Cloud put his other hand on his hip. First being followed and now this; today was just not meant to be easy, was it? He didn't know the Prison Warden and he could think of only one reason why the man would be calling.

"Warden, with all due respect, you'll get Leonhart and the others back only after you've pried them from my cold, dead fingers. I know that they were slated to be sent to your prison but, given the current circumstances, I can't allow them to be taken in."

"_Son, that's not what I'm calling about. Although I do have a bone to pick with you about that particular matter_."

Surprised at the answer, Cloud tilted his head and swung around and met Leon's gaze. "Then why the personal call?"

"_I've been keeping tabs on your investigation and thought that you deserved to be alerted immediately and directly. Xemnas, Saix, and Xaldin have escaped_."

Leon pushed himself up as all the color drained from Cloud's face. "Sorry, but I thought you just said—"

"_I said they escaped, boy. Sometime within the past hour. We don't know how they did it, but two of my guards are dead, four others are wounded, and I've got three fewer prisoners in my maximum security ward. We're doing everything we can to find them, but I know you and your partner have got a personal connection, so I wanted to warn you first thing._"

"Shit. Alright. I'll be in touch."

As he snapped his phone shut, Cloud looked up to find Leon standing in front of him, his grey eyes concerned. "What is it?"

Wavering on his feet, Cloud reached out a hand to brace himself against the wall, knowing that Leon probably wouldn't be able to support his weight. "That was the Prison Warden. Apparently Xemnas, Saix, and Xaldin managed to escape."

"_What?_ How?"

Sucking in a breath of air, Cloud shook his head. "Right now, that's not our problem. All we have to worry about now is keeping ourselves safe."

"What do you mean?"

Mind working fast, Cloud made a snap decision. If the Organization bosses had busted out they were probably going to make a move, and soon. The fact that he had been followed today from the train didn't bode well for what they were planning. "Things have gotten too risky. I can't just let you three sit around waiting to be shot in the back."

Leon's eyes narrowed, "What are you going to do?"

He didn't know what he was supposed to do, as a cop, in this situation, but he knew that had to be done, even though he didn't like it. "We, and by we, I mean myself, you, Riku, Zexion, and probably Sora, Demyx, and Axel, are going to go on an impromptu vacation. Roxas should be fine, he hasn't been directly involved in either of the two cases…"

"We're leaving town? Where are we going to go that the Organization won't be able to get at us?"

Thinking quickly, Cloud sorted through all the options in his head. Leon was right; if they escaped to anywhere nearby, the Organization would still be likely to find them. They needed to put some distance between them and Twilight Town. "We can go out to Midgar. Tifa has a spare apartment in the city I'm sure she'd loan me and I still have friends in the force who can help set up some kind of protection for us."

Leon let out a small huff, his brow furrowed. "How long will we be there?"

Shrugging, Cloud could only tell him the truth. "I don't know. A few weeks, maybe a month or two. However long it takes for us to shut the Organization down again…All I know is that if we stay here, you can bet that things are going to get bad for us very fast and I'm not willing to go through that again."

From the way Leon was looking at him, Cloud could tell that the other wasn't very happy with the solution either. He was pretty sure that neither of them was comfortable with the idea of leaving town with their tails between their legs instead of staying to fight. But Cloud was also pretty sure that they both knew what the consequences could be if they stayed. There was too much at risk. To Cloud's relief after a long pause, Leon finally gave a stiff nod, finally ready to trust that he would be able to take care of things. "Alright. Let's do it."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14! Woot! As those who check my Livejournal will have already heard, I managed to get a job recently so I had fun trying to squeeze in time to get this chapter written. Nevertheless, it has been finished! I'll try to get the next out as timely as possible, but unfortunately I can only promise that'll I'll do my best. DX This chapter is sort of…the second half of the story's "breather" period; hopefully having two in a row won't be too boring for you readers. ^^; Things will pick up soon though, don't you worry…

Big thanks go out of course to all the awesome people who reviewed for the last chapter: ChaosGarden, kingdomheartslover13, RkM4U, r a a i n, , youknowily, mello-jeevas, Shinimegami7, ramen-is-my-goddess, xacilia, Clockwork Phoenix, Becca86, SlippingSanity, fluidsxcore, Aindel S. Druida, Dragi, Cloudia119, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Kareian, Misu-Hoshi, Keira-93, Burning Saturn, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, YumiStar, BlooJhay, and Mirror and Darkling! You dudes rock! ;)

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Chapter 14

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The night after Cloud had gotten the call from the Prison Warden had been busy to say the least. After eating a quick dinner with Leon and Sora, the detective had immediately gone about calling everyone who needed to know about his new plan to send them all to Midgar.

No one had been excited about it but they had all eventually agreed that skipping town was probably the best course of action—at least for the time being—now that the Organization bosses had escaped from jail. Roxas had been upset at first but once Cloud reminded him that Xemnas had made a not-so-subtle death threat against Axel he had folded fairly quickly. Tifa of course had readily agreed to loan them her apartment for as long as they needed. Apparently the lawyer was waist-deep in another court case and was going to spend any of her free time at her other property, a small townhouse closer to the Midgar courthouse, so the apartment was going to be free.

The phone calls dragged on until, around two in the morning, Cloud collapsed onto Leon's bed beside the wounded soldier and promptly fell asleep.

And that night Cloud had some of the worst nightmares of his life. They ranged the full spectrum of horrors: loved ones dying, the Organization killing him in his sleep, the house burning down around him, the works. The only thing that had kept him from thrashing around was the feeling of Leon's warm body pressed up against his as his slept, and every time he woke up with cold sweat streaking down his face Cloud moved a little closer.

The fifth time he woke though, Cloud could tell that something was different. He had been dreaming about being in a high pursuit car chase with a large black SUV—fairly tame, relatively speaking—when something had jerked him back into reality.

Cloud's eyes snapped open as he took in a shaky breath of air. He was immediately on guard, even if he couldn't figure out why. Leon was still there, his broad back warm against Cloud's chest and the detective could feel the felon's heartbeat beneath his fingers. The room was still and silent, any noise from the outside world long having died away as the night had drawn on.

Reluctantly pulling away from Leon, Cloud rolled over and stared at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was four sixteen in the morning. There was no good reason why he should have his eyes open this early, especially considering he had only gotten to bed two hours earlier. But…something in the back of his mind wouldn't let him get back to sleep.

Laying back down beside Leon, Cloud settled on just staying up for a bit and waiting to see if anything was wrong. The minutes ticked by and just when Cloud was about to close his eyes again and go to sleep in spite of his obnoxious paranoia, he heard it. A slight rustling, not coming from inside the bedroom but further within the house. And Cloud had spent enough time at the Leonharts' house to know that it wasn't supposed to be there.

Slipping his legs out from underneath the covers, Cloud nearly tripped over a half-packed suitcase laying on the ground as he got to his feet. Last night he had Leon start getting his things together for their unscheduled trip. Side-stepping the luggage, he stayed as silent as he could as he pulled a pair of pants on and grabbed his handgun and police badge from off the top of Leon's dresser. If there really was something going on, he wasn't about to be caught off guard.

The thought that someone was breaking into the house was at the forefront of Cloud's mind as he slowly eased Leon's bedroom door open just far enough so that he could see out into the hall. He hadn't ever heard of the Organization making a hit like this but he wasn't about to ignore the possibility, particularly now that they were getting desperate for their revenge.

Despite his heart pounding in his chest, Cloud kept his cool as he slipped out into the empty hall, gun held down at his side. The firearm still had the safety on but it would still take only seconds for Cloud to incapacitate any intruder. He just wanted have time to make sure it wasn't Sora stumbling around getting a glass of water first before he started shooting.

Speaking of Sora—as Cloud walked down the hall towards the main part of the house, he realized that the noise he was hearing was coming from the teen's room. That meant that nothing was wrong or that something was very, very wrong. If someone from the Organization had broken into the house through the window in Sora's room in order to either harm him or gain access to Leon, there was going to be hell to pay.

Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Cloud considered knocking on Sora's door before he thought better of it. If anything really was going on inside, taking the enemy by surprise might be the only way that Cloud would be able to gain an advantage. If it was just Sora moving around, then Cloud would just have to apologize. Given what was going on, breaches in privacy were acceptable.

As one more rustle reached Cloud's ears from behind the closed door, the detective's mind was made up and without another moment of hesitation he pushed the door open, preparing himself for anything. And despite his mental preparation, his heart still jumped into his throat as he saw a figure sitting on the end of Sora's bed as the teen, sitting up in bed, let out a sharp gasp of surprise.

Instantly Cloud had the safety off of his handgun with the barrel pointed right at the figure's head. "Get down on your knees with your hands up, now!"

"No, wait! Cloud it's—!"

"—Hey, it's me!" Cloud blinked as the stranger's voice, their posture, and Sora's cry reached him and his mind began to click things in place. Slowly, Cloud relaxed his stance as his pulse came back down to a normal beat count. "It's me! Point that gun somewhere else, will you?"

Straightening up, Cloud released a huff of disbelief as he reached over and flipped the light switch, his suspicions confirmed. "Riku." The silver-haired man scowled up at the ceiling light now glaring down at him, his eyes clearly not adjusted to the bright light. Behind the hitman Cloud could see that Sora's bedroom window was open, allowing Riku perfect access to his present spot settled at the end of Sora's blankets. Turning his eyes back to the criminal, Cloud crossed his arms over his bare chest as he thumbed the safety back on his handgun. "You have five seconds to explain."

Now that he didn't have a gun pointed between his eyes, Riku seemed to have reverted back to his usual cocky self. "I don't know if I have to. After all, I'm in Sora's room, not yours."

Scowling at the hitman's smirk, Cloud leaned against the doorway. "Riku, it's four in the morning, I'm very tired, and I'm definitely not in the mood for your crap. What are you doing here?"

Perhaps sensing that the detective wasn't joking, Riku rolled his eyes as Sora fidgeted at the other end of the bed. "Fine, relax already. I just heard the news that those Organization big shots you supposedly had securely locked in managed to get out and I just wanted to stop by to make sure everything was okay."

"We're fine. For now." Running a hand through his hair, Cloud closed his eyes. "As long as you're here I might as well tell you that we're planning on getting everyone out of town for a while to let this whole thing blow over. You're coming along."

Riku raised a brow, "Do I have a choice?"

"No. We'll be leaving soon, probably tomorrow morning. Where are you staying now?"

"Around."

Cloud's eyes flickered back open at the ridiculously vague answer. He really wanted to go back to bed. "I meant 'Where can we find you when we're ready to leave?'"

"Well say so next time. Just have Zexion give me a call and I'll be there within half an hour if you're leaving from Traverse Town."

Cloud still didn't like Riku's answer but he decided he was too tired to make a big deal out of it. "Fine. Just, get out of here for now. I'm not going to get back to sleep knowing I left you two in here alone…"

Sora blushed, "It's okay, Cloud, you don't have to worry about me. He doesn't do anything bad!"

"Maybe a little of your brother's rubbing off on me, but that doesn't really make me feel any better. Riku, out, now."

"But—"

"Out. And no more of this sneaking in at night. You're lucky Leon didn't wake up and shoot you."

Tisking, Riku frowned for a minute before he finally seemed to relent. "Fine." Turning to Sora, he sent the teen a small grin, "I'll talk to you soon, alright?"

Sora's blue eyes flickered to Cloud before he gave the assassin a quick nod. "Yeah…"

With one more glance at Cloud, who was glaring wholeheartedly at the hitman, Riku climbed back up into the window and gracefully jumped out, as silent as a shadow. Not wasting any time, as soon as the last strand of silver hair had disappeared Cloud moved across the room, pulled the window shut, and locked it.

As he pulled away, he looked down to find Sora nervously staring down at the sheets pooled around his waist. Cloud let out a light sigh, not quite knowing what to do. With a younger brother like Roxas, they were close enough in age that Cloud had never concerned himself with hurting the other's feelings and would've just told him to get over it. But he knew he had to treat Sora differently. "What's wrong?"

Sora's chin jerked up and he blinked once, his brown spikes going every which way from sleeping, "Nothing! It's just…" The teen's face fell into something decidedly more guilty, "no one was supposed to wake up."

"…Riku didn't try anything, did he?"

"What? No!" Sora shook his head, "No, that was the truth, he never does anything bad, I swear! But, I know Squall still doesn't like it so…" Sora's voice slowly faded out and he looked back down at his bed sheets. "Are you going to tell Squall?"

Cloud didn't want to lie to the kid so he settled on a weak shrug, "Probably. It's his house, he deserves to know."

"Yeah, but—!"

Letting out a small breath, Cloud looked back at the window. "I'm sure he won't get that angry. He already knows Riku stops by uninvited…Either way, he'll be mad at Riku, not you."

Sora still looked upset. Frowning, Cloud hesitated before he reached down and ruffled the boy's hair. "I won't tell him until morning, so try and get some rest until then, alright? We have to pack and make travel arrangements in the morning, so it's going to be a busy day."

"Okay…"

Well, Sora still didn't seem happy, but at least Cloud had settled things down enough to the point where he didn't look depressed. Hoping that the seventeen year old would have enough sense to actually get back to sleep, Cloud left the teen's room fully intent on at least getting a little more sleep himself. Stumbling back into the master bedroom, Cloud set his gun and badge back on top of the dresser, slipped off his pants, avoided the suitcase on the ground, then rolled back into bed. Leon grunted a little in his sleep as Cloud's chilled body pressed back against his but didn't wake. It was probably thanks to the pain killers the brunette was on and Cloud found himself with another reason to appreciate them—the last thing he wanted right now was to tell Leon that Riku had snuck into his brother's room in the dead of night. That was a conversation he was definitely willing to wait to have until morning.

OoOoOo

Morning, unfortunately, came much earlier than Cloud still would've preferred. After having just managed to get back into a blissfully dreamless sleep after scaring Riku off, Cloud was suddenly jolted awake again not by the sound of another intruder but by the piercing ring of his cell phone.

Releasing a low moan, Cloud rolled over and grappled blindly for his phone which was in the back pocket of his pants which were currently on the ground. The obnoxious noise was loud enough to wake the dead and it certainly managed to wake Leon. The brunette's brows furrowed as he buried his head against his pillow, his voice dangerously gruff. "Cloud…shut that thing up…"

Scowling, Cloud scooted over to the edge of the mattress so he could reach further. "Sorry, I'm trying. Just a bit—Ah ha, there it is." Digging his phone out, Cloud glared at the caller ID before pulling it to his ear, "Yeah?"

"_Hey, it's Axel._"

Cloud's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the clock. "…Do you know what time it is?"

"_Sure do. It's eight in the morning. It's not like I'm happy about not getting to sleep in either, but considering all the shit we have to do today it's sort of necessary._"

Cloud growled lightly as he felt Leon's elbow hitting his back and knew that the other wanted him to finish the rest of his conversation out of the room. "Just a minute, Ax." Covering the receiver so that the redhead wouldn't hear, Cloud turned to Leon as he maneuvered himself out from underneath the covers again. "Fine, I'm going. But Axel's right, we both need to get up, so don't fall back asleep."

Leon dismissed him with a slight wave of his hand before he rolled over onto his stomach. Great. Hoping the man had actually heard him and was eventually intending to listen to him, Cloud left the warmth of the bed sheets behind and stood up. Slipping his pants back on, Cloud left his gun and his badge one the dresser this time before he staggered sleepily out into the hall. As he passed by Sora's room he noticed that the bedroom light was on, shining out through the small crack under Sora's door. With any luck, the kid had managed to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep between when Riku had paid a visit and now.

Once he had made it into the kitchen, he started heating up water in a kettle for some instant coffee before pulling the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry about that, Ax. You still there?"

"_Yup. I guess I'll excuse being put on hold, especially since you sound a little more, you know, conscious now. Anyway, we have some things to talk about before I start doing anything_."

Sitting down at the kitchen table, Cloud watched as the kettle heated up on the stove. "What do you need to know?"

"_Who I can talk to for starters! I just got into the station, and I don't even know who the hell I can talk to about us leaving! If we're really hiding from the Organization, we both know that it's not really safe to trust information with anyone!_"

So Axel was worried about another Organization mole in the Twilight Town Police Department too. It was a little ironic, but not completely unfounded. Cloud was just happy to hear that his partner was as on his guard as he was. But Cloud knew that Axel wasn't going to like the answer he was about to give. "That's the thing, now that there's been a pretty clear indication that the Organization at least has some influence in the court system, we have to be very careful about what we say and to who. We don't even want the Organization to know that we're going into hiding until after it happens, so basically none of us can tell anyone anything about it unless we're _sure_ that they're on our side."

"_That's the whole thing though! You can never know for sure! I should know, I was a mole for years and not even you noticed until the end!_"

"Don't remind me…But you're right."

"_So you're saying we can't tell anyone? Well how in the world are we supposed to make this whole escape thing happen if we can't coordinate anything with our home base? We need them to watch out for things here so we can actually be safe out there, you know that!_"

"I do." Cloud had actually already thought of this little problem. He and Axel were going to need the support of the Twilight Town Police Department in order for this to be successful, but how could they get that support without telling anyone exactly what they were doing? "It's not going to be easy, but once we all arrive at our new location, I'll call the chief. Since we'll already be gone, I'll explain the situation as best we can without providing any details as to our location or our plans for the future. If he's not with the Organization, I'm hoping that he'll be able to understand our caution and go along with it."

"_I don't know. That plan sounds half-baked at best. It definitely seems like something that could get us both fired_."

"In my book, risking getting fired is still better than risking death. Like I said, as long as the Chief's not working with the Organization, he should be able to understand eventually."

Cloud was met with a round of silence for a minute until Axel spoke back up. "_Maybe. But you're talking about death and all reminded me of something else I wanted to ask. I know what you told me last night, but remind me again why Roxas can't come with us?_"

It was clear that the redhead was worried about his lover and Cloud couldn't blame him. Roxas was his brother after all, Cloud was worried about him too. "I know it doesn't seem right, but I don't think that Roxas will be targeted by the Organization. Besides the fluke with him pulling over one of their members for speeding, he's never been a target of their attacks before. Since he's already off-duty and staying at home, that'll mean he'll be even less likely to run into trouble, especially if Hayner sticks around to watch him. Having someone stay here in Twilight Town is also too good of an opportunity to pass up—if something comes up, he'll be the person we can rely on to help us out."

"_That still doesn't make me feel any better about it…_" Cloud heard his partner release a tense sigh. "_But I can see where you're coming from. How about this? I promise I won't kick up a fuss if you promise that at the first sign that Roxy's coming under fire from the Organization, you'll fly him out to stay with us._"

"I would've done that anyway, so you've got a deal."

"_Good…Anyway, I guess that's it. I'm sure I'll think of something else to call you about in a few hours but for now I guess I'll leave you alone._"

"Alright. I'll talk to you later, Ax."

Hanging up, Cloud waited another two or three minutes to move again, roused from his chair only as the kettle started to whistle on the stove. Cloud lurched to his feet and opened a cabinet to pull out two mugs, having memorized the layout of the kitchen long ago. Going through the motions the detective knew by heart, he quickly prepared two cups full of cheap, instant coffee knowing he wasn't the only one in the house who could use a nice jolt of caffeine.

Returning to the master bedroom with a cup in each hand, Cloud was happy to find that Leon had indeed listened to him—that, or he had been unable to fall back asleep. Either way, Cloud was glad to see it as he handed the criminal one of the mugs. "Sorry about the phone call."

Leon shrugged it off as he hid a yawn behind his hand. "Had to get up sooner or later anyway…"

Unable to resist the pull of the soft linens and a warm bed partner, Cloud snuck back onto the bed to enjoy his coffee. "How'd you sleep?"

"Terrible."

Cloud smirked as he blew on the hot liquid in his cup, trying to get it to a drinkable temperature. "I guarantee you still managed to sleep better than me."

"Why's that?"

"Because I actually saw you sleeping." Leaning back against the headboard, Cloud finally deemed his coffee cool enough to sip. "I had these messed-up dreams all night and kept getting woken up."

Leon let out a small grunt of understanding. Of course Leon would know about nightmares—Cloud knew that the man suffered from dreams much worse than any of the ones he had had last night. Leon made it impossible to forget when every once and a while he would wake up thrashing and sweating, his gaze blank and hallow…Cloud shook his head. It hurt to think about Leon like that.

Watching the ex-SeeD as he began to down his coffee, Cloud wondered for the first time if he should tell Leon about what happened earlier that morning with Sora. After all, no one had really gotten hurt and Sora would be happier…Sure, Riku had come in uninvited planning to do who knew what with Leon's little brother but—never mind. Leon had a right to know. Besides, it would be better if Leon knew Riku was sneaking over because then, if the hitman ever tried it again, Leon wouldn't immediately attack him thinking he was some sort of intruder. Probably.

They also had a lot to get done today, so if he was going to do it, he might as well get it over with. "So, Leon. There's something I should tell you that you're not going to like."

Cloud didn't need to look over at the other in order to tell that a frown had just appeared on his face. "What is it?"

The detective kept his voice calm; there was no need to make a bigger deal out of this than it was. "The last time I woke up, it wasn't because of a bad dream, it was because I heard something. It turned out that Riku paid a little visit early this morning."

"What?"

"I took care of it. Apparently he just dropped by to see if everything was okay over here, but I figured you should know in case he ever tries it again before we leave so you don't, you know, accidentally kill him or something."

Leon's voice had fallen to a low growl, "It wouldn't be accidental. What'd he do?"

"He and Sora were just talking in Sora's room. I don't think he had been there too long before I got there, but there didn't seem to be any signs of anything but a conversation going on. You can relax a little, Leon."

"Relax? I'm supposed to relax?" By now Leon had set his mug on his bedside table. Cloud copied him as Leon threw the sheets off of his lap. "Riku—that brat should know better than to test me now…"

Cloud watched warily as Leon swung his legs out and then moved to stand up. It was clear that Leon was trying hard but, despite all his tenacity, the man's legs were already shaking as he put too much weight on his injured and exhausted limbs. "Where do you think you're going?"

Leon scowled, his stormy eyes flashing as he reached out a hand and used the wall as a support. "Where the hell do you think? I'm going to talk to Sora."

"Not like that you aren't." Seeing Leon wobble again, Cloud hopped to his feet and walked over to where Leon was standing on the other side of the room. "Look, Leon, I get it, you're mad, but in the state you're in, you're too weak to make it to the door by yourself, much less Sora's room and back."

Leon's scowl deepened, "The only reason I'm too weak is because I'm not allowed to move around and get my strength back!" At that moment, Leon's knees decided to give out and prove them both right. Stumbling, Leon grunted in surprise as Cloud swooped in just in time to keep him from hitting the ground. His shock didn't last long though and was quickly replaced with an even stronger anger. "Damn it!"

"Hey, take it easy! Just, sit down for a minute." Making sure he had a firm grip around Leon's waist, Cloud lowered him as gently as he could to sit on the end of the bed. From Leon's expression though, Cloud could tell that the man wasn't finished.

"Is Sora up?"

The question caught Cloud by surprise. "Yeah, I think so. I passed by his room and the light was on—"

Before he could even finish speaking, Leon shook off his hold and raised his voice to shout back into the house. "_Sora, get in here!_"

Now this was new. Cloud had seen Leon mad before, but not this kind of mad. He was like a lion who had just figured out that there was a hyena trying to take his cub away.

From down the hall, Cloud could almost hear Sora hold his breath before both he and Leon heard the sound of the teen's bedroom door creak open, a hesitant voice calling back a second later, "What'd you say?"

Cloud was pretty sure that the younger Leonhart had heard perfectly—Leon had yelled so loud, how would he not?—but was just trying to stall. Cloud couldn't blame him.

"I said get in here."

After Leon's growl, there was another pause before Sora shuffled into the master bedroom, his wide blue eyes falling warily on Cloud before shifting over to his brother. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me. Did Riku come over this morning?"

Cloud watched as Sora's hands twisted up the bottom of his shirt and felt bad for the kid. Had he known Leon was going to take it this badly, he might've thought twice about telling him. For all his nervousness though, Sora was braver than Cloud gave him credit for because even with his older brother staring him down the teen didn't even try to cover up what had happened. "Yes. But it wasn't a big deal, he didn't try anything—"

Leon interrupted, "That's what Cloud said, but it still doesn't make me feel any better. How'd he get in?"

Sora swallowed before straightening up, as if bracing himself. "He showed up at my window and I let him in."

"You can't just _let him in_!"

"I couldn't just leave him out there either!"

"He's an assassin!"

"He's my friend!" Sora's shout caught both Cloud and Leon off guard. Cloud for one had never heard the younger Leonhart raise his voice, and certainly not at his brother. From the momentary shock on Leon's face, it was clear that it didn't happen very often. Taking a breath, Sora nodded, as if confirming it for himself, "Riku is my friend. He, he means a lot to me, Squall. You don't have to protect me from him!"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. The exact wrong thing to say as Leon's rage suddenly returned in full force. Even Cloud moved back as the soldier forced himself to his feet and yelled down at his brother, the conversation now having completely devolved into a full-on sibling fight. "You're not just my little brother! You're an orphan, a cancer survivor, and the only family I have left! You've somehow managed to make it through all of that and I'm sure as hell not going to let anything I do cause you any more trouble. Until my dying breath, I am going to protect you from everything that's ever come from any of the mistakes I've made in life, and that includes Riku!"

Even Sora was riled up at this point, a sight Cloud had been pretty sure he would never see. He was beginning to waver on whether he felt more like interfering or trying to find a way to slip out into the kitchen. Once again though, Cloud had to hand it to the kid; he wasn't backing down an inch, which was impressive considering who his brother was. "I'm seventeen, Squall! I'm old enough to take care of myself and make my own decisions!"

"Until you're old enough to leave for college, you'll do as I say! And even if you think you can take care of yourself, you can't! You have no idea what sort of things are going on here and I'm the only one who can keep you out of it!"

It fairly obvious to Cloud that they were no longer fighting about Riku. This had just moved on to a larger subject that both Leonharts clearly had wanted to get off their chests for a while now.

"That's not fair! I—" Sora's shoulder's slumped as his voice caught in his throat. When he spoke again, the teen's voice had lowered to a murmur. "I'm tired…"

Leon's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

His brother's comment caused Sora's voice to surge back up with righteous anger. "I said I'm tired of this, all of this!" As he waved his hands around, Cloud knew that Sora wasn't just talking about Riku, or arguing with Leon, or even Leon's criminal past. It was everything. "Stop telling me what to do, Squall! You're not Dad!"

"_Dad's dead_! That means that it's up to me to take his place!"

A sudden hush fell between them as Leon seemed to realize what had just come out of his mouth. Sora was staring back at him looking like he had just been slapped across the face. Cloud stood frozen, forgotten by both brothers and just watched as a single tear fell from Sora's bright blue eyes before the teen could scrub it away.

"Sora—"

"Y-you can't. You never will!"

"Sora…wait, I—"

"Just, leave me alone!"

Cheeks flushed red with anger and embarrassment, Sora spun on his heels and took off running back down the hall. Cloud moved to go after him but Leon caught his wrist and together they listened as the front door swung open then slammed back shut. Sora had run out of the house.

After a long moment, Cloud looked down to the hand on his wrist then followed the hand up with his eyes to find Leon's frighteningly stoic face staring at the ground. And, having no idea of what to say to make the man feel better, Cloud just kept his mouth shut.

* * *

Putting his head in his hands, Marluxia leaned over the table he was sitting at with a low sigh. Things were not going well for him right now. The imbeciles he had watching their prisoners had let them slip right through their fingers and now to make matters worse SWAT teams had been scouring the forest for their hideout for the last day and a half now. It wouldn't be too long before they found it, no matter how much he tried to throw them off the trail. The woods outside of Twilight Town just weren't big enough to hide them for long.

This was the hazard with trying to delegate. There was just no one who could do the job as well as he could.

"Marluxia."

He whipped around, his pink hair flying up and into his face. With a huff he combed it out of his eyes with a swiped of his gloved hand and shot a cold glare at the giant standing in the doorway. "What is it, Lexaeus? I'm dealing with a bit of situation right now in case you didn't notice."

Lexaeus didn't seem troubled by Marluxia's annoyance. He had exactly the same expression on his impassive face as he did when he had informed Marluxia that the rocket he had fired on Leon and that stupid police detective on the road hadn't been enough to kill them. "They're here."

Marluxia's dark blue eyes narrowed. "'They'? You mean the boss?"

"They want to see you."

"Damn it…" Letting the gravity of the moment wash through him, Marluxia remained sitting for a second longer before pushing himself to his feet. "Well, I might as well get this over with." There was absolutely no use in prolonging the inevitable.

Walking out of the small room he had hidden himself away in to try and think, Marluxia squeezed past Lexaeus and stepped out into the hall. He didn't need to even ask his lumbering associate where he was supposed to go: their "Superior" had a habit of making all of his speeches from the same room in the compound whenever he _graced them with his presence_ here outside of Twilight Town.

Marluxia wasn't sure whether to be comforted or further annoyed as Lexaeus followed him out but by the time he arrived at the Superior's door he had decided to ignore it all together. He and Lexaeus were on fairly neutral terms and the other wouldn't be sticking out his thick neck for him any time soon.

Knocking on the door a couple of times, Marluxia waited impatiently for his arrival to be acknowledged by the man sitting on the other side.

"Enter."

Marluxia rolled his eyes before pasting on a meek smile as he pushed the door open and stepped through. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Inside the large room was what usually served as their meeting room, their "war room" if you would. However, with Xemnas and his lap dog Saix sitting at the end of the long metal table it looked more like a throne room to Marluxia as he stepped further inside.

"That is correct."

Checking the corners of the room, Marluxia noticed that they were one jailbird short. "If I may ask, where is Xaldin? If I am not mistaken, he managed to slip out of prison when the two of you were released."

"He did indeed. I sent him back out to our new headquarters to start preparing for our return. However, it is not Xaldin's whereabouts that you should be worrying about Marluxia, but your own mission's progress. I have been kept informed of it even when I was left to rot in that jail cell, and I do not like what I have been hearing."

Straightening, Marluxia's lips drew into a straight line. "I already had someone sent out to follow the detectives around to see if they'll lead us to our targets."

"And what have they found?"

Marluxia's confidence wavered just long enough for Xemnas to catch it. Mentally cursing himself, Marluxia quickly schooled his features back into a self-assured mask. "…Admittedly, they haven't found out much yet, but—"

"Marluxia, were the orders I gave you complicated?"

Swallowing, Marluxia's hands clenched into fists at his side. "No, sir…"

"And what were they?"

"…To capture Zexion, Leon, and Riku."

"Correct. Very straight forward, very simple. And yet you have failed me time after time."

Breaking his façade once more, Marluxia stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "It's not like it's easy! There's a reason that they caused us so much trouble the last time!"

Xemnas didn't even blink at the small outburst, his cool demeanor never faltering once. "Perhaps so, but it is still your responsibility to see that the job is done. If you cannot do it alone, use who you must to get it done. This is your last chance, Marluxia. Do you understand?"

"…Yes, sir. I promise I will set things straight."

"See that you do."

* * *

After about ten minutes had passed by and Sora failed to return, Cloud found himself with yet another problem on his hands. Now that he had calmed down, Leon's anger had quickly become replaced with a much more potent emotion for the ex-soldier: worry.

Struggling to keep the man in bed, Cloud threw all of his weight into pressing Leon back against the headboard as the other fought to break free. Even injured, Leon was a force to be reckoned with and if Cloud hadn't been as concerned for the other's man's health, he would've just let him do whatever he wanted.

"Hold on a minute, Leon!"

The soldier let out a warning growl as he shouldered Cloud's hands off, "Let me go, Cloud! I need to go get him."

"He's only been gone for ten minutes! He's probably just cooling himself down after that fight you just had!"

As Leon wrestled himself free, Cloud swore and put his whole body into keeping the other man contained. It was hard to resist just tackling him and forcing him to the ground, but the bandages wrapped around Leon's chest reminded him that he still had to be gentle with him.

After a few tries, Cloud finally managed to keep Leon pinned to the mattress by straddling the other man, his weight on Leon's stomach and his hands pressing against the SeeD's shoulder's the only thing keeping him down. Cloud frowned down at him as he felt Leon stiffen up. "Get it through your thick head, Leon! You're not going anywhere. You can barely walk down the hall!"

As a smoldering look flashed through Leon's stormy grey eyes, Cloud noticed that freeing himself wasn't all the man wanted now. Maybe this position hadn't been a good move. It had kept Leon down but it made Cloud, and Leon apparently, realize that it had been well over two weeks now since they had…done anything more than just share a bed. Using every ounce of self-control he possessed, Cloud softly shook his head, licking his lips subconsciously as Leon kept staring up at him with a very enticing mixture of rage and lust, "I don't think so…There's no way you have the energy for—"

Cloud was cut off as Leon's hand was suddenly digging into the hair on the back of his head and yanking him down, their mouths crashing together. After a few seconds of holding out, suspecting it was just a diversion tactic, Cloud's bunched-up shoulders sagged and he allowed himself to finally relax against Leon and enjoy it, just for a second. As he began to respond, the violent kiss became surprisingly slow, languid, and…loving? God, Leon had never kissed him like this before. It felt…really good…

Finally pulling away to breathe, Cloud opened his eyes to find Leon gazing straight back at him, his grey eyes much calmer now. But they still held a spark of worry and Cloud wasn't surprised when Leon spoke back up, though now there was a husky edge to his voice. "…If you're not going to let me out, then go find Sora for me." Underneath him, Leon's brows furrowed. "I don't want him running around on his own right now. And I…think I need to apologize. I've never, yelled at him like that before. But, when I'm like this," Leon waved disgustedly down at his bandages, "I know I wouldn't…wouldn't be able to do much if something actually happened."

Cloud's face softened and he nodded gently. He had figured it was something like that: Leon was feeling particularly overprotective for Sora because of his own momentary weakness. That Leon would actually admit that to him made Cloud want to smile. It showed progress. Maybe the two of them weren't as hopeless as he had feared. "Fine. If it keeps you in bed, I'll be happy with going out to look for Sora. But if I find any evidence that you got out of this bed and went anywhere further than the toilet, there'll be hell to pay for you, soldier. Understood?"

Despite his fatigue and concern for his brother, Squall managed to roll his eyes. "Sir, yes, sir…Now get going."

Turning to crawl off the bed, Cloud looked back with what he hoped was a confident, calming expression. It was the same face he showed to clients who were worried about their own loved ones and Leon looked like he needed to see it right now. "Don't worry, like I said, I'm sure Sora's just out trying to burn off some of his frustration. I'll find him." Noticing the half-packed suitcase at his feet as he slipped his legs off the edge of the bed, Cloud gave the item a small kick, "Then I'll bring him back and we'll finish packing, round all of us up at the Traverse Town Airport, and get on a plane to Midgar."

Sighing, Leon leaned his head back against his pillow. "Sounds like a plan."

"Yeah. Let's hope it works."

Pushing himself up and onto his feet, Cloud grabbed his shirt and left the room after he was sure Leon was going to stay down this time. As he walked down the hall and towards the front door Cloud buttoned up his dress shirt and quickly found his shoes by the door. He knew Leon's patience was probably wearing thin as it was so as soon as he was fully dressed he stepped outside and began his search.

The first thing he did was scan the front of the building. Cloud had half-expected to find Sora sitting back against the wall two feet from the front door but…it didn't look like that was the case. The teen had been pretty upset though; Cloud knew that if he had been in Sora's shoes, he would've taken off running and would be halfway across the city by now. Luckily, Cloud was pretty sure Sora wasn't quite that bad.

Picking a direction, Cloud began to walk down the sidewalk as he mentally ran through all the spots he knew Sora liked to go to in town. If Sora were to go looking for comfort and familiarity, where would it be? The high school maybe, or the ice cream shop downtown. Cloud had a sneaking suspicion that if Sora knew where Riku was staying, that'd be where he would go but Cloud didn't have a single clue where to begin looking for that, so he had to go with what he knew until he could figured it out.

Although he was technically a homicide detective, Cloud knew the basics of a missing person's case and how to best start searching for them. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to tap into that knowledge too much—that Sora would calm down enough to come back home on his own—but if Cloud needed to, he would.

With everything that had been going on with the Organization recently, it would be good to fine the teen as soon as possible. Since the Organization didn't seem to know exactly where they were quite yet, considering he was being followed yesterday, they woudl probably be alright for another day or two but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

OoOoOo

Stuck in bed, Squall could only wait for Cloud to return. The minutes passed by like hours and the only thing he had to fill the silence were memories of the fight he had just had with his brother. Honestly, he hadn't meant to yell at Sora like that, but when things were getting so out of hand…He was just scared that Sora was going to get hurt, whether it was Riku who did it or someone else. If that happened, he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to live with himself.

Flipping on the TV to try and distract his mind, Squall stared blankly as muted images flashed across the screen. He barely even understood what was playing, but it was enough to help the seconds tick by a little faster. Squall could hardly think of a less hellish torture than being stuck in bed like this, so any little bit helped.

It grew less and less helpful, however, as the minutes dragged on to ten, then twenty, and thirty, and by the time forty-five minutes had passed a pit was growing in Squall's stomach. Still, he stayed put. Not only had he told Cloud that he would, but the detective had been right. By himself, he knew he would barely make it out of the house without collapsing. If he had a definite location to go to he could probably push himself to make it there but there was no way he could just blindly wander around the city in his condition.

But when Cloud was gone for an hour, then two, and when three hours went by and Cloud still hadn't returned from his search, Squall knew something was wrong. There was a chance that the blonde had found Sora and the two were just taking a moment to talk or whatever, but he was sure that the detective would've called, or at least texted, to let him know that Sora was alright.

Squall was just about to pick up the phone and call Cloud to demand news on what the hell was happening when his hand froze mid-motion as he heard the front door to the house open then slam shut. Despite his best efforts to quell it, hope swelled up in his chest at the thought that Sora had finally found his way. Squall knew that it had been a bad idea to hope, but he hadn't counted on just how much it would hurt when a moment later it was crushed as Cloud, not Sora, rounded the corner and entered the master bedroom. The blonde's expression made Squall's heart clench even more. Gods it felt like his lungs were collapsing. "Where's Sora?"

"Leon…I—"

Squall's throat tightened to the point where it was a miracle that he could still breathe. Not that he would've cared either way at that point. "Where is Sora?"

Cloud winced as he leaned over, trying to catch his breath. The detective's cheeks were flushed as if he had just run five miles. He probably had. "I asked around, and I looked everywhere. All over town, in all the districts. But—I don't know where he is. I couldn't find him."


	15. Chapter 15

Alright! I got the next chapter out! *cheers* Sorry about the wait, but I've been working and stuff. Busy, busy, busy, and I'm not even gonna start thinking about how school's going to start up again soon! DX Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I did my best to get it out in a…somewhat timely manner. ^^;

Big, huge, thanks are necessary for everyone who reviewed the last chapter: youknowily, ChaosGarden, RkM4U, Aindel S. Druida, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, ramen-is-my-goddess, Mirror and Darkling, Stellar Eclipse, shrouded-obsession, fluidsxcore, xacilia, YumiStar, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Dragi, Shinimegami7, Becca86, r a a i n, kingdomheartslover13, Keira-93, Misu-Hoshi, mello-jeevas, BlooJhay, and Pyro. Ahlex! Holy cow, this story's almost at 400 reviews! You dudes are the awesomest! ^_^

O

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

The first thing Squall did was lunge across the bed for his cell phone which he had charging on the ground. Tearing out the power cord, he thumbed through his list of contacts as Cloud sat down on the edge of bed.

"I'm hoping Sora's with Riku, but if he's not, Leon, he might—"

Squall cut Cloud off with a glare. He didn't want to hear the rest of what the blonde had to say. Like the detective though, he knew that their best hope for Sora was that he was with Riku, as sad as that was, and he was going to call the one person he thought might know something about it.

Dialing, Squall pulled the phone up to his ear and waited impatiently for someone to pick up on the other end.

OoOoOo

Hearing an annoying buzz coming from his left, Zexion muted the international news program he was watching on television and turned to look for his cell phone. It had been five days now since they had been rescued from those gods-forsaken woods and two days since he had managed to convince the hospital staff that he was healthy enough to be sent home for rest.

Now, trying to slowly heal innumerous bruises and a broken rib, Zexion had been confined to the couch in his and Demyx's apartment. Despite all the pain medication he was on, it was still painful to lean over, much less stand up, so for now Zexion was content to remain right where he was. Demyx had taken the week off from work to help out but was at the moment back in their bedroom listening to a new sampling of music that had just been brought in to the store he worked at.

Finally locating his phone under a small stack of newspapers, Zexion checked the caller identification and raised a brow. Flipping it open, he turned back to watch the television as he spoke. "Leon, I assume you are not calling to check up on me, so there must be a problem. What is it?"

"_Zexion, where's Riku?_"

"Riku?" Zexion winced as he propped himself up a little more. "Why would you be looking for him? You can hardly stand him when you are forced to be together."

Leon's response came back as a sharp growl. "_I'm not in the mood to talk. Sora's missing for over three hours. Tell me where Riku is, or I will come over there and break another one of your ribs._"

Pulling the cell phone away from his ear long enough to glare at it, Zexion returned to the conversation with a disgruntled huff. "There is no need for threats. If you are really so determined, I can get in contact with Riku for you. However, if you are implying that Riku has anything to do with your brother's momentary disappearance, I believe that you are mistaken."

If anything, Leon's tone had only sharpened. "_Why?_"

"About an hour ago, my afternoon was disrupted by a text message from Riku complaining about you, of all people, and how because of your protective tendencies he was not going to see Sora for the rest of the day. Of course, he was not quite as eloquent as that, but that was the general gist of the message. If Sora had been with him, I have no doubt that Riku would have gloated about it."

Zexion was met with a long silence. Even with his medicated brain, he could figure out what caused it. "So I suppose that begs the question, if Sora is gone, and Riku does not have him, where is your brother? Since you already called, you might as well explain the situation to me."

"…_We, had an argument and he ran out. Cloud went after him but—he looked everywhere and he couldn't find Sora. He's been gone for hours now and should be back by now. If_," Zexion heard Leon swallow, "_if Sora's not with Riku_—"

Zexion's heart jumped a bit in his chest as he interrupted. "Do you suspect that the Organization is involved?"

"…_I…shit. Yes. Zexion—_"

Zexion interrupted again, unwilling to hear Leon's voice break. "Now that you have called me, we can begin to get to the bottom of this. I will contact Riku and I will have him come over to my apartment. Then the two of us will come to your home so that we can discuss our next plan of action."

Thoughts whirling in his mind, Zexion tried to settle them enough to form a coherent sentence. If the Organization was moving…how long would it be until they came after him and Demyx?

…How long had it been since he had heard from Demyx?

Heart tightening, Zexion lifted the phone back up to his ear. "Just a moment, Leon, I need to check on something."

He didn't even give Leon the time to respond before he put the phone on mute and set it down on the floor. "Demyx?"

No response. Gritting his teeth in pain, Zexion twisted around, a sharp gasp escaping him as his rib throbbed. "Demyx?"

Had the Organization—? Had they—? Did they sneak in the back? But Sora had left the house. Sora had left the house and then had disappeared. They had already long established that the Organization, when acting on the direct orders of the bosses, never attacked their targets in their homes. But if they had gotten to Sora, they were certainly going to be coming for Demyx. And if they were desperate enough, perhaps they would change their methods…

"Demyx?"

"_Demyx?_"

"_De—_!"

"—Huh? Ienzo, you say something?"

All of the air in his body seemed to slip out in a long breath and Zexion slowly lay down on the couch, despite the sharp twinge of pain. He could feel his body trembling, both from the effort it took to move and from the fear that had just been coursing through his body. Closing his eyes, he didn't bother to open them again as he heard footsteps hurrying over.

"Ienzo? Sorry, I had my headphones on like full blast and couldn't hear you. Can I get you somethi—Are you alright?" As he rounded the couch, Demyx immediately crouched down next to Zexion. "What's wrong? You're shaking like a leaf!"

"I thought, thought that they had, they had taken you…"

Brows furrowing, Demyx gazed at Zexion for a moment before slowly straightening up. Gently lifting his shoulders, Demyx sat down at the end of the couch then lowered Zexion's head to rest back on his lap. "It's okay, Ienzo. I'm fine, see!"

"I, I apologize. It is simply that, for a moment—"

The worry in Demyx's eyes faded into something much more tender and the blonde musician leaned down, curling almost protectively around his lover. His long, slender fingers reached up and ran down the side of Zexion's face, as if he were lightly strumming his sitar, and Zexion finally felt himself able to breathe again. "It's okay."

Spotting the cell phone sitting down on the carpet, Demyx leaned down and picked it up. Seeing that there was still an ongoing call, he gently handed it to Zexion. "Here, did someone call?"

"R-Right. Leon. Thank you." Taking one more breath to steady himself, Zexion turned the sound back on as Demyx's fingertips moved up to comb through his hair. "Leon? Are you still there?"

"_Yeah. What happened?_"

"Simply a slight…lapse in common sense. I will blame my pain medication…Anyway," clearing his throat, Zexion tried to pull himself back together, "as far as your brother is concerned, I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to insure his safe return. Perhaps you can find some comfort in the fact that the Organization is not after Sora, they are after us. They will not make it hard for us to find him, just to get him back. If he's truly been kidnapped it is likely that he is being held at one of their headquarters, perhaps even the one that we just managed to escape from."

"…_Great. Just, get over here with Riku in tow, now._"

"We will be there as soon as possible."

* * *

Moaning, Sora slowly blinked his eyes open. He felt like his whole body was being weighed down with lead bricks. He was…laying down on a cold, concrete floor. He wasn't injured, or hand cuffed, or tied down…but…

The last thing he remembered was running out of the house. A flush of shame washed over his face as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He had run out of the house after the fight he had with Squall. He had wanted to find Riku but the silver-haired man had never told him where to find him. After a few minutes of aimlessly wandering around, Sora had settled on grabbing a smoothie at a small store down in the town center. After all, it was late summer and already starting to get hot out and he hadn't even had breakfast yet.

He had gone into the smoothie shop then went outside to enjoy his purchase in the sun. He had sat down on a low stone wall and had only managed to take a few sips when he had heard someone coming up from behind him. Before he could even react or turn around to see who it was, a damp cloth had been slapped over his face and everything had quickly gone black.

Now he was awake again, smoothie-less, and in some strange room with no idea of even how long he had been asleep for…

Looking around with wide eyes, Sora quickly took in his new surroundings. Like he had thought, he was sitting on a plain concrete floor in what looked like a large concrete box. There was a single bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and beside the room was absolutely bare. There were no windows and only one door that looked like it was made of solid steel. The only other thing he could see in the room was one vent in the ceiling. And that was it.

Sora gazed around in wonder as he stood. Who would go to this much trouble just to put him somewhere like this? He realized now that he had been drugged and kidnapped, but why? This seemed a little over-the-top for your typical abduction. Not that Sora had ever been kidnapped before, but he did watch TV and this definitely seemed a little excessive.

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

Squall was going to kill him.

With a renewed sense of shock, Sora's eyes darted around his make-shift prison. What had Squall and Cloud been talking about recently? Hadn't they been talking about how the Organization was starting to regain their strength a few nights ago? Had _they_ kidnapped him? That meant that he was probably going to be used as bait, to lure Squall into some sort of trap. He couldn't let that happen!

Pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to break the door down, Sora moved his attention up to the ceiling vent. If he could reach it, maybe he could pull it out and then do…something. It might work. It was definitely better than just waiting around for something to happen.

Sora walked into the center of the room, his chin tilted up as he warily eyed his only possible escape. Checking the door once to see if anyone was coming in he reached up as far as he could and jumped straight up. Why did he have to be so short? With a determined frown stretching across his face, Sora walked back into one of the corners of the room, then turned around and made a running leap for it. The extra momentum helped just enough to let the tips of his fingers snag the grating in the vent.

Feet dangling in the air, Sora hung on. He had been hoping that it would just sort of pop out when he grabbed it. Of course, just his luck! "Damn it!" Sora's eyes widened as the explicative left his lips. He had definitely been hanging around Cid too long recently. Struggling to keep his grip, he focused and jerked hard on the vent. But it wasn't working. Come on, he wasn't that light!

After a few more pulls, Sora was just about to give up when he heard more footsteps running up from behind the metal door. A whimper escaped him and he didn't even have time to let go before the door in the room burst open with enough force that Sora thought that it was going to be thrown from its hinges. Not wanting his fingertips to get ripped off, Sora released the grate as he was suddenly rushed by a small mob of armed men.

Sora tried desperately not to panic as he was snatched out of the air and literally wrestled to the ground. He knew he wasn't strong and that trying to fight back against six burly men wasn't going to end up well.

But he couldn't let himself just sit back and do nothing either. Thinking fast, Sora decided to go with the only trick he knew that might have a chance of working.

Letting out a sharp cry of fake pain, Sora instantly bought himself some room to breathe as half the hands on his body flew off in shock. Encouraged by their reaction, Sora continued to milk it. He gripped his chest and ignored the arms still trying to restrain him as he doubled over. "Ah, I, I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

Playing his part to the fullest, Sora did his best to recreate some of the actual symptoms he knew only too well. He had a whole arsenal to choose from: fever, fatigue, nausea, anemia, bone and joint pain…He knew what they all felt like because he had gone through it all before, back when he was still in treatment. Before Squall even got back from the war. Before his parents died.

"Hey, give the kid some space!" The rough hands pulled away from his body as Sora rolled up onto his knees as he continued to "gasp" for air. "We need him alive until the others get here."

So he was being used as bait! Mentally shaking himself off, Sora knew that he had to focus if he wanted to get out of this mess. He definitely couldn't panic. Focus. What could he do? They were obviously watching him and inside this room there was no way that he was going to be able to escape. He knew that the only way he was going to get out through the door was if they opened it from the outside. Now might be one of the few chances that he was going to get to make a break for it! He couldn't mess this up! What next? What should he do next?

When they had spoken the men had sounded pretty tense still, so he had to make them relax their guard further. Now how to do that…? Make himself as pathetic and non-threatening as possible! He, unfortunately, knew exactly how to do that too.

Pulling in a sharp breath of air, Sora flinched and curled up even more on himself. "I…ah, I hurt, all over! I, I haven't taken my medication. Urgh…please," Sora made his eyes wide and watery and shakily reached a hand out to one of the men, "can you…can you help me up?"

"Could be a trick."

Shoot! They were still suspicious! Maybe he overacted the part? Just as Sora was starting to get worried that he had dug his own grave, another man spoke up and gave him some hope that his plan was working.

"I don't think so. Remember what Marluxia told us? This little brat's delicate and shit. Sick or somethin'. Just help him up so we can get outta here."

What, were they looking at his medical file from three years ago? Never mind, didn't matter. The weaker they thought he was, the better the advantage he had. Despite the inward sense of victory Sora felt as one of the men bent down to pull him back to his feet, he couldn't help the nervousness that surged through him. Because this would possibly be the one and only chance he would ever have to try and make a break for it. The door to the room was wide open, no one had their hands on him or was standing close enough to instantly grab him, and they thought he was some kind of weak, dying child. It wasn't going to get better than this, and he _couldn't_ mess it up.

Reaching out his hand to meet his reluctant helper half-way, Sora made his move. In the span of a heartbeat the mask of pain he had plastered across his face slipped off to be replaced by a look of pure determination. Sora didn't give his adversary a moment to take it in though and sprang to his feet, yanked the man's arms to get him off balance, then kicked out, planting his knee right into the other man's crotch. Sure, it was a dirty trick that he wasn't proud of, but Squall had told him that if anyone ever tried to grab him, he should do it. And it worked.

As the man he kneed doubled over and crumpled to the ground, Sora turned on his heels and ran before the others could even react. Darting around an armed thug like he was a slalom pole, Sora raced out the door and into a shadowed hallway.

His heartbeat was thumping in his ears so loud that Sora couldn't even hear the sound of his own footsteps as he dashed headlong through one darkened corridor after another. He had no idea where he was going but somewhere there had to be an exit. If he just kept moving in one direction he would have to find one eventually, right? Right?

Glancing back over his shoulder as he was about to round a corner, Sora saw that although he had slipped past them the men from the room weren't giving up so easily. If anything else, he was pretty sure that he had made them even madder by pulling such a dirty trick. They had their guns out and he thanked whoever was up there that they weren't using them yet. He had no idea how he would've avoided any bullets. Sora knew that his only hope now was that he could make it out of this crazy building and disappear before they caught up to him. Luckily, as weak as he was, Sora knew that he was fast. He hadn't made his high school's varsity soccer team for nothing.

One thing was for sure though: Sora had never been so terrified in his life. He had gone through childhood cancer, yeah, but at least then he had never actually wondered whether each and every breath he sucked down into his lungs was going to be his last or not. These were the type of people Squall had been keeping him away from. They actually _killed_ people! And Sora was fifty percent certain that he was only ten steps away from being their next victim.

Scrambling around another corner, Sora was about to look back and see if he had managed to widen the gap between him and his pursuers when his plans suddenly changed. Instead of sprinting into an empty hallway, like he had been expecting, he found himself face to face with another person.

Sora's eyes widened as he skidded to a stop with a short gasp of surprise. They—she—was dressed nothing like the men coming up fast behind him and she looked just as shocked to see him as he did her. Immediately identifying with her, Sora grabbed her hand. "Come on! We have to get out of here! There are these guys coming to kill us!"

The slim blonde tilted her head to the side, her green eyes locked on Sora as he tugged beseechingly at her hand. "Oh? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Could she not hear the sound of footsteps thundering down the hall behind him? He didn't want to leave another captive alone but by now Sora was so afraid he could barely walk straight. "Please, just follow me, okay?"

"Sorry, I don't think I can do that."

Sora could barely stand it. Those thugs had to be right behind him! "Why not?"

The young woman's lips drew into a small pout. "Because you're not going to make it out."

"If we leave now, I'm sure we can! The bad guys won't be able to catch us!"

"Hmm, it's not a bad plan." She tilted her head to the side before a quick, dark smile suddenly slipped onto her face. "Too bad I'm one of the bad guys, so you'll have to go through me first."

Like a deer in the headlights, Sora could only stare back at her in disbelief as their hands suddenly switched positions so that it was her grabbing hold of his wrist instead of the other way around. He might've been able to break free but it was too late anyway; he had wasted too much time trying to get her to come with him and now the guys behind them had caught up.

"There he is! Larxene, you got him?"

The woman, Larxene's, grip tightened enough for Sora to feel the tips of her manicured nails digging into his skin as her personality did an eerie one-eighty from almost childish to downright frightening. "Of course I have him, you morons! It's no wonder you lost those other three if you can't even keep a brat like him in check!" The men had the decency to look embarrassed from her words and Sora let out a shout as she suddenly pulled on his arm. "And you, Sora, isn't it? I'll be the one walking you back to your room this time. That way no one makes any more…mistakes today. The rest of you can go."

"But what if the kid tries anyth—?"

"I said 'go'!"

Whoever this Larxene person was, she seemed to definitely have some sort of authority in this place because the men scattered, leaving Sora alone with her. Any thoughts he had of escaping her clutches while they were alone had vanished though. There was something about her now that told him it would be a very bad idea.

The walk back to the room that was to be Sora's cell was dead silent and not once did Larxene loosen her grip on Sora's hand. Between trying to keep up with her no-nonsense pace and trying to keep from making any noise of discomfort, the only other thing that he had to distract himself from his bridging terror was the sound of his heart beating in his chest and the clicking of Larxene's high heels on the concrete floor as they walked.

When they finally got back she wasted no time in pushing him back inside, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "And Marluxia said that this was going to be hard…He's going to owe me for this. Oh, and Sora?" Sora blinked up at her, not knowing whether it would be better to ignore her or acknowledge her. Apparently she was satisfied enough by simple eye contact as she sent him a small, childlike smile. "Try to escape again and I'll nail you to floor, 'kay?" Feeling the color drain from his face, Sora gave a stiff nod. He really wished he could believe that she had been exaggerating. "After I had to go all the way out to Traverse Town to pick you up, you're not going anywhere else until I say so."

With that, Larxene closed the door and left Sora alone to think things over. Letting a slow, long breath of air escape him, Sora's eyes lifted up to the ceiling at the vent. Now, after his little adventure with it earlier, it was clear why the vent thing hadn't worked out. The corners of the industrial vent had been bolted to the ceiling. The bolts didn't match the metal of the vent so it seemed like they had been added on afterwards, almost as if they had known that he would try to use the ventilation tubes to escape. They really had all their bases covered and now, knowing that there was someone like Larxene waiting out in the hall if he ever did manage to get through the door, escape was looking more and more impossible.

If Squall was there, he'd know what to do. If Squall was there, he'd have beaten a path for them to use to escape. If Squall was there…Sora would've never gotten into this mess in the first place.

Squall really did overprotect him and he treated Sora like he was still five years old but, right now…that didn't sound too bad. None of this would've happened if Sora hadn't been so wound up after their fight and took off running. He shouldn't have ever gone downtown, or out into the city at all. He had known that they were in danger, that was why Cloud was over all the time after all, but he hadn't given the situation a second thought.

Maybe Squall was right. Maybe he didn't have the right stuff to protect himself.

Not from this…

* * *

Squall slammed his phone down as soon as Zexion hung up. Cloud was instantly at his side again but it didn't do anything to make him feel better after having Zexion basically confirm his worst fears: Sora had been taken by the Organization. Of all the things that had ever happened to him or around him, Squall could easily say that this was the most frightening moment of his life. But he didn't have any time to let it show.

"Leon? Leon, what did Zexion say?"

Jerking his head to the side, Squall wondered how long Cloud had been trying to get his attention for as he met the blonde's eyes. It was hard trying to keep his voice steady as he spoke. "He thinks they have him. Him and Riku are coming over to plan our next move."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Cloud had moved around so that he was crouched down in front of him as Squall sat perched on the end of the bed. "Alright, Leon, listen to me closely." A frustrated sigh burst past Squall's lips and he tried to look away, having an idea of what Cloud was about to say. The detective wouldn't have it though and reached up to grab his chin in order to maintain eye contact, his voice quiet but firm. "Listen. I know you're scared right now—No, don't even try to deny it, it's written all over your face." Squall closed his mouth. "Gods know I would be if Roxas was in the same situation, but now that we have an idea of what happened to Sora that's all the more reason for us to be smart about our next move. One slip up and, well, I don't have to tell you what the risks are."

Squall gave a stiff nod and Cloud released his chin, knowing he finally had the soldier's attention. "What are you getting at?"

Sighing, Cloud moved his hands down to grab a hold of Squall's though the blonde never once looked away. "You said Riku and Zexion are coming over to plan something. But we both know that this whole thing is getting way out of control. You should let us, the police, handle this."

Staring back into Cloud's bright blue eyes, Squall almost wished that he could find it in himself to agree. Almost. Maybe if anything else had happened he would've gone along with Cloud because he could see how badly the blonde wanted for him to stay out of this. But this was about Sora, and he would do anything for his brother. He would give his health, his freedom, even his life in an instant if it meant that his baby brother would be safe. Sora was the only good thing left in his life, his only reason for pushing on, and Squall would go to hell and back to keep him protected.

"…You know I can't do that, Cloud."

"Leon…"

Squall shook his head, stopping anything else Cloud might have been about to say. "I can't just sit back and do nothing. Zexion and Riku will be over soon to come up with a plan. I can't—won't promise that everything will be legal, so if you don't want to hear it you should leave."

Sitting back on his heels, Cloud's steadfast expression melted into one of exasperation. "No, Leon, I'm not just going to leave. You shouldn't have to go through this alone!"

Squall's eyes hardened. "I'm not the one who's in danger, I'll handle it."

"I won't let you! Not by yourself. Riku and Zexion can't exactly be called good for emotional support and I know—even if you won't admit it—that this is the sort of thing that could tear you apart." There was nothing there that Squall could really argue against but that didn't mean he liked hearing the truth coming from the detective's lips. Cloud was the last person that he wanted to feel anything like pity towards him.

"I'm still not going to the police, Cloud. I can't risk anything going wrong."

Squall felt the detective's blue eyes on him and knew that the other was staring him down. He had said the exact opposite of what Cloud had wanted to hear and wasn't quite sure how the blonde would respond.

Finally Squall got his answer. Heaving a sigh, Cloud crossed his arms. "I can't change your mind, can I?" Squall didn't bother to say anything back. The question had to be rhetorical. "You're putting me in a hard spot, Leon. I can't just sit back and knowingly let you, Riku, and Zexion commit crimes."

At the moment, Squall couldn't care less that Cloud was facing an ethical dilemma. "Then leave."

Anger flared up in Cloud's face making his eyes flash dangerously. "That wouldn't change anything."

"Then lower your moral standards."

"You really don't give a shit, do you?"

Squall narrowed his eyes as he growled back, having had enough of Cloud's lecturing for one night. "I do care, Cloud! I care about this, us—whatever the hell it is! But right now I care more about my brother! So do what you need to do! He's in trouble, right now you're not. If you can't handle being my second priority, then leave!"

As a silence stretched between them Cloud's heated expression fell away. "For gods' sake…Leon…" Exhaling through his nose, Cloud pressed his hands to his forehead as if to try and calm a raging headache as his gaze slipped down to the bedding. Eventually the detective found his voice again, "This isn't about you and me. I'm not so full of myself to think that it would be at a time like this. I don't give a crap if I'm your second, third, or forth priority—right now, I shouldn't even be in your top ten, even if we do have something going between us. I'm just trying to figure out how to get Sora out without you ruining your life in the process." Cloud lifted his eyes so that they met Squall's. "I have no doubt that between all of us we'll get Sora back. But he needs to have something to come back to."

Swallowing, Squall felt his own anger ebbing away. He hadn't thought about that, hadn't even considered that was the reason Cloud was upset…and he wished he could have half of Cloud's confidence in their success. "…I get it. But, I'm not giving this over to the police. It's too important. I," Squall's voice caught and he had to clear his throat once to get the rest of his sentence out. He definitely wasn't used to this sort of thing. "I don't want you to leave. But if you can't come along, knowing what Zexion, Riku, and I might have to do, I won't hold it against you."

Squall hoped that the "I need you here" was implied. It was the best he could do under the circumstances. Luckily Cloud was perceptive as ever. "I told you, I'm staying. Don't make me say it again. And I'll…try to turn a blind eye…to whatever you need to do, but, only if you try to keep things as legal as possible."

Knowing that saying that had probably been like swallowing glass for the lawman, Squall silently thanked Cloud by reaching out and taking his hand, letting their fingers hesitantly twine together. He wasn't used to relying on anyone else but, if it was Cloud, Squall thought he might actually be able to manage it.

Before their moment could grow into anything more intense both men were startled out of their individual thoughts by a series of quick knocks echoing out from the front door. Instantly Cloud was pulling away and back on his feet, hand resting on his gun holster. "I'll check it out."

Frowning, Squall pushed himself up and off of the bed, wincing as his muscles strained. "Check the peephole before you start shooting. It's probably Zexion and Riku."

"Right."

Cloud hurried ahead and Squall limped after him. He needed to be able to get back on his feet, and fast. Making a detour as he passed the en suite bathroom, Squall downed two more pain pills. Down the hall, he could hear Cloud open the front door and knew that nothing had gone wrong when instead of shouts or gunshots he heard the sound of footsteps.

Cloud came back into the master bedroom a second later, a frown on his face. "Can you make it out to the living room?"

"Why?"

"Zexion looks like he's in worse shape than you. Demyx just dropped him off and he barely made it into the house without collapsing. He's waiting out on the sofa."

Pausing to follow the pills with a quick gulp of water, Squall nodded. "Fine. Riku didn't help him in?" He knew Riku was a bastard, but come on. He was the only one of them who was still anything resembling healthy.

"Riku's not here yet."

Squall's anger flared back up. They needed Riku for this, exactly because he was the only person left who could actually run around without being drugged up on pain medication. Squall had thought that Riku would've been the first to show up after hearing Sora was missing, but apparently Riku was even more of a heartless ass than Squall had thought.

The little boost of adrenaline from his rage and the extra dose of pain meds gave Squall the strength he needed to walk out into the living room on his own, Cloud right on his heels. Spotting Zexion sitting on the couch closest to the door, Squall headed over but before he could even greet the other man, Zexion spoke up. "We have a problem."

Squall took a seat across from the criminal with a short growl, "No shit we have a problem. My brother's gone."

"No, I meant we have a bigger problem than that. Riku is also gone."

It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over Squall's head. "What? They got him?"

"Worse." Zexion shifted, a grimace settling on the man's pale face as his hand moved up to grip at his side. "I called Riku to inform him on the situation but when Demyx and I drove over to pick him up, he was not there. He has far too much experience in this field to let himself be abducted in the short period of time between my phone call and my arrival, however."

"So where the hell did he go?"

"I had hoped that he had come here earlier, but noting his obvious absence in your home, I can only come to one conclusion. Riku, being the headstrong idiot that he is, has decided to go ahead without us."

"What?"

Squall was sure Zexion would've rolled his eyes if he had been feeling better. "To put it bluntly, Riku has gone to get Sora. Without us. The damned fool has once again been completely blinded by his emotions. I warned him not to, but there is only so much you can say to that child before he simply stops listening."

Squall had never heard Zexion talk about Riku like that before, like he was actually worried for the other. But Squall had never thought that Riku would ahead without them either. It seemed like something Squall would do, not Riku. What right did Riku have to do something like that? "Where is he?"

"If I knew, I would tell you."

Squall's reply was cut off by a hand on his shoulder and he looked back to find Cloud standing next to him. Having remained quiet so far, the blonde apparently decided that it was time to step in before things got out of hand. "So now we have two people to worry about bringing home instead of just one. Is it possible that Riku knows where to find Sora?"

One of Zexion's brows twitched up in surprise. "I believe that it is very possible that Riku will be able to find out where Sora is being held. He has…connections that even I do not posses that could probably tell him what he needs to know. I did not, however, expect you to participate in this discussion, Detective Strife."

"Yeah, me neither. But it's clear that you guys need help and," Squall felt Cloud's grip on his shoulder tighten slightly, "there are some loyalties that should, occasionally, be above the law."

Zexion's brow quirked up again. "Well, it is true that we could use the assistance. Far be it from me to ruin whatever delusion you are working under right now."

Squall frowned but Cloud beat him to the punch. "Shut up, Zexion. Just tell me, what are the chances that Riku will call to let us know what he finds out?"

"Slim to none, with a heavy emphasis on the 'none'. But given the Organization's mode of operation in the past, and their flair for drama, I suspect that Sora is being held at the facility Leon, Riku and I managed to escape from just days ago. Riku's sources will undoubtedly inform him as to its exact location, but if we mean to follow them, we will need to find the building again for ourselves."

Straightening up, Squall was suddenly struck by a memory. "I think I know who we can ask about that. Cloud, get me a phone."

The blonde slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Will this work?"

"Perfect." It was perfect because Squall already knew for certain that Cloud had the number he needed to dial programmed into the phone. Opening the detective's list of contacts, Squall quickly scrolled through them as Cloud hovered over him.

The blonde's eyes lit up as he realized who Squall was intending to call. "That's right! Seifer! I heard at the station that SWAT was being sent out to try and search the woods!"

Nodding, Squall selected the number for Seifer's cell phone and dialed. "If anyone knows where we need to go, it'll be him…"

Squall's voice trailed off as the phone rang. Thankfully for his nerves, he didn't have to wait long.

"_Strife? What are you calling for?_"

Seifer must have read the caller ID. "Almasy, it's me, Squall. I'm borrowing Cloud's cell."

He heard Seifer let out a small breath. "_Leonhart. Make it fast, I'm busy._"

Squall was sure Almasy wasn't exaggerating so he got straight to the point. "Sora, my brother, is missing. We think—we think he might've been kidnapped by the Organization." Damn, it was hard to say out loud.

"_What? When?_"

"This morning."

"_Shit…Squall, I—_" Seifer was cut off and Squall heard someone on the other end of the line yelling something at him. "_I'll be right there! Gods…Anyway, what are you calling me for?_"

"We think they might've taken him to the same base they took me, Riku, and Zexion to. I know you're looking for it, so—"

"_What_, _you think I know where it is? I've been out here looking for a day and a half and we still haven't found anything. We just can't find the damn place! This forest isn't big, but when you're on foot with only a dozen men, it could take us a week or more to search it all. Usually we'd bring civvies in to help but because there's a chance those thugs are running around here we can't afford to take the risk. We're recruiting from the nearby police precincts, but apparently they're just as swamped as we are._"

Squall scowled into the phone. "I don't give a shit, Almasy. They have my little brother. Look harder."

"_Look har—? Let's get this straight Leonhart, I _can't _look any harder. As it is, I haven't slept, I've barely eaten—If you want more progress you can send me some more guys, and if you have any complaints you can shove them up your ass!_"

An abrupt dial tone told Squall that his phone call was over. Shutting the phone, he passed it back to Cloud, a scowl still on his face. "Almasy's got nothing for us. He doesn't know anything more than we do."

Tucking his phone away, Cloud crossed his arms over his chest. "So where does that leave us?"

Zexion tilted his head. "Not in a very good position. Without Riku there are not too many plans that we could make." Zexion waved a hand as Cloud opened his mouth. "It is not that I do not think that your presence is not valuable, Detective, it is simply that I doubt you will be willing to use your skills to the same extent that Riku would. Without him, our group is lacking a very important element, particularly due to the present members' conditions."

Squall glared up at him, not liking where the conversation was going. "What are you saying? That you don't have a plan?"

"I do not have a plan because it would be hard to make one that has even the slightest chance of succeeding. I know that you will not enjoy hearing this Leon, but it may be that the smartest course of action is to let Riku rescue Sora on his own."

A dry heat surged up from Squall's stomach and clutched at his heart. "No. No way."

"I am afraid that Riku made the choice for us when he charged on ahead without thinking things trough."

"I won't accept that!"

Even as Squall shouted at him, Zexion's expression never changed. "It does not matter whether or not you will or wish to accept it. Fact is fact. It would be best if you allowed yourself to come to terms with it."

Squall slid his hands over his face as his jaw clenched. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be…But it was. Damn it. He had never felt so useless!

The hand on Squall's shoulder softened then slid down his back as Cloud sat down next to him. "Leon, my offer still stands. Say the word and we'll do it my way. Within an hour, I can have every spare officer in the county searching those woods for your brother."

Releasing a long breath of air, Squall tried to clear his head long enough to think about it, to actually consider the possibility. He owed Sora, and Cloud, that much. But still his answer had to be the same. "I can't. This is between us and the Organization. If the police get involved…I can't take the chance that the Organization will change their tactics. I can't do that, Cloud."

"I, too, would advise against involving the police." Squall and Cloud both looked up as Zexion continued. "As Leon said, it is likely that the Organization would change their methods as soon as a new player entered onto the scene. There is a tenuous, unspoken understanding between us that we will deal with each other on our own terms. If we go to the police for assistance, we may very well push the Organization to drop the matter which will give Sora a very low chance of survival. Besides all that, in my experience the police have proven to be more of a hindrance to efficiency more than beneficial, no offense meant, Detective."

Cloud let out a quiet huff. "You can't expect Leon just to stay here and wait for Riku to come back!"

"That is exactly what I expect." Looking away from Cloud, Zexion met Squall's eyes. "Leon, let Riku fight this battle for you while we advance the troops on another field, as it were. You should know by now that Riku is fond of your brother—if nothing else, his actions today are proof of that. Have you ever seen Riku give up on something that he wanted?" Squall remained silent, unwilling to answer. Sighing, Zexion shook his head. "I know it will be hard for you, but you will just have to trust in Riku's abilities and in his concern for your brother's safety."

Squall heard Cloud release a breath but was too wrapped up in his own mind to check on the blonde. Everything about this went against every fiber of his being. But he wasn't being given a choice.

He just didn't know if he had it in him to trust that Riku would keep Sora safe.

OoOoOo

Looking from Leon to Zexion, Cloud realized that their conversation wasn't going to go anywhere any time soon. Leon was so deep in his own thoughts that he probably wasn't going to be surfacing for a while and Cloud wasn't about to challenge that. The other man had a lot to think about.

The helpless look that had entered Leon's eyes cut Cloud straight to the core and it hurt to think that there was nothing he could do about it. Leon didn't want his help and Cloud couldn't force him to.

More than that though, what Zexion had said to Leon in his efforts to console the soldier had had an affect on Cloud as well. And it wasn't a comforting one. Rubbing a small circle against Leon's back, Cloud excused himself with a murmur of reassurance and stepped out of the room.

Moving into the kitchen, Cloud figured that he was far enough away now that he wouldn't be overheard. Pulling his cell phone back out of his pocket, he quickly pressed a number set on speed dial. He didn't have to wait long for someone to pick up on the other end.

"_Hello, Detective Flynn speaking_."

"Axel, it's Cloud." Checking once to make sure that no one was going to walk in on him, Cloud leaned up against the Leonharts' kitchen table. "Things just got really complicated."

"_You found out you're pregnant?_"

Cloud let Axel's joke roll right off of him, in no mood to play along. "This is serious Axel. Sora's gone, probably kidnapped by the Organization."

"_Oh. Well…shit_."

"Yeah. Zexion just came over and he and Leon are stuck. They think he's back at that place out in the woods outside of Twilight Town, but no one knows where it is so they can't go after him. What's more, Riku's gone too, to go look for Sora. Leon refuses to let the TTPD to help and is pretty much at wit's end."

"_So…I guess we're not heading out to Midgar tonight then._"

Cloud sighed. "Definitely not. Not until we get Sora back." They had been so close to escaping but then one of Cloud's worst case scenarios came to life. "It looks like we got sucked into the Organization's game after all. But that's not what I'm calling about."

"…_Dare I ask?_"

"Axel, I need you to go after Riku."

"_What? Go after him, are you serious_?"

"I am dead serious. Riku's your parolee and that means he's your responsibility. Also, Roxas is out of play and I need to be here. Use his tracking data, grill old contacts, whatever you have to do to follow him. Listening to Zexion, it's clear that Riku's gotten in over his head. He's gone after Sora and, if he finds him, in a few hours we're going to have more dead bodies than can fit in the morgue. If we don't act fast, two of them might be Sora and Riku."


	16. Chapter 16

Hello, all! :D Celebrate, for I have managed to get the chapter out! Yay! Alright, so it may not seem like anything amazing on your end, but this week I had to move _and_ get ready for school (which starts up next week! Argh!) so it's been a pretty crazy couple of days for me. That this managed to get written is a minor miracle. XD Like I mentioned, school starts up again next week, so it might take me a little longer to get the next chapter out as well. Please have patience with me! ^^; If you want to keep closer tabs on me, I might give status reports on my LJ page (accessible via my profile page).

Loving hugs go out to: shrouded-obsession, ramen-is-my-goddess, RkM4U, kingdomheartslover13, LuxAeterna1020, Mirror and Darkling, Stellar Eclipse, Aindel S. Druida, Shinimegami7, YumiStar, Becca86, Keira-93, xacilia, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, nearcreature, ChaosGarden, mello-jeevas, Dragi, youknowily, Whimsical Dreamer, Pyro. Ahlex, SlippingSanity, and r a a i n! Thank you dudes for reviewing! I can tell by the slower flow of comments coming in that you guys are getting busy too, so big thanks for taking the time to leave a review! ^_^

Warning: this chapter has some violence in it. But, given the circumstances, I thought it might be understandable.

O

* * *

Chapter 16

* * *

A few minutes passed by after Cloud had gotten up before Squall stirred. Looking over his shoulders, he realized that the blonde had left the room completely. The frown on his face deepened as he turned back towards Zexion who apparently had just been staring down at the floor the whole time. "Where's Cloud?"

Barely raising his head, Zexion motioned back towards the kitchen. "Detective Strife went in there. I am not entirely sure why, but then again I am not entirely sure why he was here at all in the first place."

Squall would've asked what Zexion was talking about but he already had a pretty good idea of what his accomplice's response would be. Cloud had stood there and willingly listened to them mention launching a counter-attack against the Organization and had hardly said a word against it. Zexion clearly had a problem with wrapping his mind around it. "Cloud has his reasons."

"I suppose…" Zexion eyed Squall for a moment before gingerly leaning back in his seat the man's hand still gripped tightly around his side as if to keep himself from falling apart. "Speaking of reasons, Leon…the fact that you are speaking again makes me wonder if you have accepted that it must be left up to Riku to retrieve your brother?"

With a mirthless chuckle, Squall put his head back into his hands. "Accept" was a strong word that Squall didn't think he'd ever be able to use about anything concerning Riku. But…the reality of the situation had finally began to settle in. No matter how much he wanted to spring to his feet, jump on his motorcycle, and ride all the way out to the backwoods of Twilight Town, Squall knew his body would never allow it. Even if he did make it, after wasting all of that energy he wouldn't be any use to anyone by the time that he actually got to the Organization's compound—assuming that he could actually fined the damn thing.

Zexion must have been able to interpret at least some of his thoughts through his expression. "By the lack of any violent verbal opposition, I would say that your answer would be affirmative. Good."

Letting out a tight, frustrated growl, Squall slid his hands up to grip at his hair. "Either way, I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Even if he did come to terms with the fact that he couldn't help Sora, he just couldn't sit around at home while so much needed to be done. He had been a terrible patient before but now that something was actually happening there was no way he'd put up with bed rest.

"What are you suggesting?"

"I don't know! I don't know what I'm suggesting, just—" Taking a breath, Squall loosened his fingers and his hands fall back into his lap. "You're supposed to be the smart one, Zexion. Just, tell me what I to do. There must be something we can do to help."

Squall lifted his head as his words hung in the air to wait for Zexion's reaction. At first the man continued to stare at the floor until, a few seconds later he pursed his lips and something sparked in his eye. "Help, you say…? Hm…" There were a few more moments of silence before Zexion's eyebrows rose and he cocked his head towards Squall. "Well then, we should plan something for us to do."

* * *

Sora heaved a loud sigh as he sat, leaning back against the concrete wall furthest from the door. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, far less how long he had been away from home, but it felt like days. The panic that had been coursing through his veins during his escape attempt hadn't faded, though it showed less on his face now. As the minutes ticked by and he had longer to think about things, well...to say he didn't like the ideas floating around in his head was an understatement.

From what Sora had seen and heard earlier, it was clear now that he was in fact being used as bait to try and lure Squall, and probably Riku and Zexion, to wherever they were, probably so that the Organization could kill them. The worst part of it was that Sora _knew_ that his brother would run, not walk, right into their trap. And Sora hated that there was a small part of him that wanted Squall to do just that. He wanted Squall to be here, wanted someone to be here, if for nothing else than to just tell him what he should be doing and thinking. He had a fairly strong suspicion that, no matter what Squall and the others did, it wasn't part of the Organization's plan to let him out of here alive.

Pulling a deep breath of air into his lungs, Sora pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as he rested his chin on his knees. The silence was starting to become oppressive. At first it was a bit of a comfort because no sound meant that no one was coming to shoot him or something but…now he was starting to feel forgotten.

He had almost settled on letting himself fall asleep when his prayers, no, his fears, definitely his fears, were answered.

Jerking his head up, Sora stared up at the door as a sudden echoing bang rang out from somewhere beyond it. Pressing himself against the wall, Sora slowly inched his way into the corner of the room as the first noise was followed by a nearly identical second bang. He had been hoping that it was just his mind playing tricks on him but, no, something was definitely outside.

Worried and more than just a little weirded out, Sora kept his eyes glued to the far wall. Another bang and a series of footsteps ran by with muffled shouts. That feeling of being forgotten had morphed into the feeling of being completely and absolutely trapped. Whatever was going on out there wasn't good. But, considering he was in sitting in a gang's hideout "not good" meant "really freaking bad", and it was clear that no one was coming to get him.

Holding his breath, Sora waited in absolute stillness as hoping that whatever it was would just go away. After a few more bangs, the sounds from outside: the running, the shouting, all of it, had faded to be replaced with something much more sinister—silence. Silence was not good, not this kind of total silence. That was Horror Movie 101. Sudden silence after chaos equals danger.

As soon as that thought had entered Sora's head, that deadly silence was shattered by the sound of more footsteps. Unlike the ones from before, which had sprinted by in a flurry of panic, these were much more controlled. They probably belonged to whoever had started the mess. And instead of going away, like Sora had been wishing for, they were definitely, definitely coming closer until they sounded like they were almost right outside the small concrete room Sora was trapped in.

Sora swallowed down his fear and curiosity and waited anxiously for it to pass by. At this point, all he wanted was for things to return back to status quo. At least he would know what to expect then. The thought that someone was coming to kill him had definitely crossed his mind, as well as the thought that someone was coming to save him. But he knew Squall and Squall wouldn't be acting like this, which brought him back to the idea that someone was coming to kill him.

Listening carefully, Sora heard the footsteps outside hesitated then, after almost having a moment of realization, they turned and in two more steps they were right outside the door. Left with nothing to defend himself with or hide behind, Sora could only press himself further into the corner as there were two more bangs, earsplitting now that they were so close, ripped through the air and the door to Sora's make-shift jail cell was kicked open.

Sora had just enough time to throw his hands over his face as the heavy metal door slammed back against the concrete wall to reveal a figure standing in the doorway. "Wait, don't shoot!"

"Sora?"

Ears ringing, Sora had barely caught the word, but the tone of the voice made him risk a peek through his fingers. What he saw made his heart unclench so fast it felt like he was flying.

"Riku?"

The silver haired man had crossed the room and was at his side in a second and Sora barely had enough time to unwind himself before he was gathered up into a pair of strong arms. Instantly melting into the embrace, Sora returned the hug, pouring every ounce of relief he felt into the touch, a smile lighting his face as he felt the sentiment returned. "Riku, it's you!"

"Sora," pulling away just far enough so that he could look Sora in the face, Riku stared back at him with concerned teal eyes, "are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

Sora could feel tears pricking his eyes despite himself. "I'm fine! I'm okay."

"Then why are you crying?"

Shaking his head, Sora buried his face against Riku's shoulder, desperately breathing in the familiar scent of leather and gunpowder as he muffled a weak laugh. "From relief, I guess! I thought, I thought I might die here, you know?"

"Sora…" Riku's voice fell before he lifted Sora away again so that they could see each other's eyes and something in Riku's teal gaze left Sora breathless. It was rare that he was able to see past Riku's icy cold exterior and it was moments like these that he cherished the most. He could tell that Riku had been worried and…frightened? He didn't think Riku could _do_ frightened.

As if realizing that he had let his guard down, Riku's shoulders tensed up before he reached out, his thumbs brushing the tears off of Sora's cheeks as he gently held Sora's face. "I'm going to keep you safe, okay?"

It was as if Riku was asking for some reassurance that Sora believed it and, without even a moment of hesitation, Sora nodded. Sora believed in it more than Riku believed it himself. "Yeah!"

Nodding back, Riku stared at him a moment longer before tugging Sora forward until their lips were pressed together. Blinking in surprise, it took Sora less than half a second to relax, the teen letting out a soft murmur of disappointment as Riku slowly pulled away. Just like every other kiss he'd shared with Riku it had ended far too quickly. And yes, they'd shared a few already. There was a lot Squall didn't know about and Sora knew his brother would completely flip out if he ever figured out just how head over heels Sora had fallen for Riku in the past two years.

Which reminded him—"Riku, where's Squall?"

"He's not here."

Immediately, all the good feelings Sora had just had washed out of his body. Sora thought that Squall would figure out that this was a trap, but he had never though that that would stop his older brother from coming for him. As glad as he was that Squall wasn't in danger now, he couldn't hide the fact that he was upset. "What, what do you mean?"

Spotting the hurt look on Sora's face, Riku stumbled into an explanation. "It's, not like he didn't want to, probably. I just, sorta, came without him." When Sora just continued to stare, Riku sighed as he pulled them both to their feet. "When Zexion called to tell me, he said something about meeting up at Leon's place to plan out a rescue. I, decided to skip that step."

Riku. Convinced now that his brother would've been there if he could, Sora could only shake his head. It was sweet but, if Sora understood the situation right, it sounded kinda…not well thought out. But he wasn't going to start complaining, not when Riku was here with him now. "Squall's going to be pissed at you."

The silver-haired man rolled his eyes. "When is he not? Anyway," Taking another breath, Riku reached down to his belt and for the first time Sora noticed that the man was armed. Like, to the teeth. Sora had been so focused on Riku's face and eyes and hands that he had completely ignored the four handguns strapped around his waist. "We can worry about that later. Right now we need to focus on getting out of here."

Tearing his eyes off of the firearms, Sora turned his paled face up to Riku. "Huh? Oh, um…y-yeah. How, how'd you get in?"

Without ever breaking their gaze, Riku casually pulled out one of the guns and switched out the empty clip for a new round of ammunition. "Through the front. I know, not the best plan ever, but, hey, they weren't expecting it. There also don't seem to be as many people here as the day they had us tied up in here. Unfortunately I was only able to take out a handful of them before they scattered so it'll be a little tougher getting back out."

"Y-you mean you just killed people?"

"I hope so. It'll make this next part a lot easier if they're not breathing anymore." The look of shock didn't fade from Sora's face and Riku let out another sigh. "I know you don't like it, Sor, but it's part of the game. And it's no worse than what any of these low-lives deserve. By taking you, they wanted to piss us off. They're just getting what they paid for."

Looking back down at the gun in Riku's hand, Sora couldn't find it in him to respond and hoped that Riku wouldn't take it the wrong way. He had never been okay with killing, not when Squall was doing it, and certainly not when Riku was doing it. Sora wasn't an idiot, he knew what the silver-haired man did for a living but, to come face to face with it…it was hard.

Riku seemed to understand the meaning behind his silence though and grabbed Sora's hand tightly in his own, the one that wasn't holding the handgun. When he spoke this time, Riku's voice was quieter though a cool tone had seeped back into it. "Come on, we need to get moving. I'm sure they're bringing back reinforcements."

"Okay."

Sora tightened his grip around Riku's fingers. Even if he had said "okay" he was much less than okay as Riku led them towards the door. Knowing that Riku was here alone, that he really didn't have a plan, and that the bad guys would be coming for them soon, wasn't very comforting.

Furtively glancing around each corner, Riku motioned with his head for Sora to come up next to him, his voice now lowered to a sharp whisper, "Stay behind me and do exactly as I say, alright?"

The teen bit his lip but let out a small noise of understanding. Hearing the sound, Riku glanced back over his shoulder. "Hey, trust me. I'll get you out of here if it kills me."

That's exactly what Sora was afraid of but before he had the time to voice his concerns Riku was already pulling them out into the hall. With his first step beyond the boundary of the small room, Sora knew why Riku was in such a hurry. About six feet away there was a man slumped over against the wall, appearing almost as if he were sleeping. But the splatter of red on the grey wall behind him told a much different story. And Riku had done that. Riku had—

"Sora, come on!"

There was a quick tug on his hand and Sora blinked and refocused just in time to catch the unmistakable sound of people running towards their direction. Noise reverberated much more clearly through the long corridors than they did in the small cell he had been locked inside and even Sora could tell that if they didn't get moving they were soon going to find themselves face to face with a bad situation.

Turning away from the sight of the dead man, Sora followed after Riku as the assassin began to lead them back down the hall, back through the aftermath of Riku's arrival. They turned a corner and Sora had to fight down a gag as two more bodies were revealed, their blood forming large puddles across the floor. Feeling his hand tremble, Riku pulled him closer as they ran. "If you need to, close your eyes, Sora. We'll be out soon."

"I don't think so, kid."

Sora's eyes shot up as he let out a sharp gasp. Standing in front of them were two of the men who had wrestled Sora down earlier in his cell, guns drawn and trained on both of them. In a flash, Riku tugged Sora back so that the younger was hidden behind him.

"Drop your weapon and both of you get back to th—!"

Before the thug could even finish his sentence, Riku whipped his gun up and shot the man straight between the eyes. The man fell, dead before he even hit the ground. His partner let out a shout of alarm but before the Organization member's finger could tighten on the trigger of his rifle, Riku had shot another round straight into the man's chest.

Sora watched on with wide eyes as the lackey's rifle clattered to the ground as he collapsed against the wall, clutching his bullet wound. Blood was already starting to trickle out of his mouth and he was gasping for breath. Riku though wasn't phased. Dropping Sora's hand, he walked up to the other man and pressed his pistol against the side of the man's head. "This is what you get for crossing me. Hurts, doesn't it?"

The thug groaned, his shaking fingers stretching out toward his weapon. Seeing the action, Riku frowned and Sora watched his finger tighten around the trigger. "Riku, wait—!"

Sora was silenced by two loud bangs. With one last gurgling sound that Sora was sure would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life, the Organization member slouched over and the light faded from his eyes as his blood began to drip down the wall behind him.

Shuddering, Sora turned away as Riku walked back over and grabbed his hand again. The hitman looked from Sora to the new corpse and his frown deepened. "Sorry, that one got a little messy."

Sucking in a trembling breath, Sora shook his head as Riku once again began to pull them down the hall. "That's not the problem! You didn't have to kill him!"

Chasing behind him, Sora couldn't see Riku's face anymore but he heard him scoff. "Think of it as me putting him out of his misery. Besides, if I left him alive he might've gotten up and shot us in the back." When that didn't earn him a reply, he glanced back and sighed. "This is the real world, Sora. It's kill or be killed, okay?"

Riku was acting like he was explaining some common fact of life to a five-year-old but Sora still wasn't ready to accept it yet. He still didn't know yet what sort of world Riku lived in, or what sort of world he had grown up in, but Sora knew for sure that there was another way to do things. Ruthlessly killing things, people, just to get through the day wasn't how most people dealt with things! "It doesn't have to be, Riku!"

"Do we have to have this conversation now? Look…" Coming to another corner, Riku stopped to check around it. "As soon as we get out of here we can try it your way but until then I'm going to do what needs to be done to get you out of here alive. All the better if that includes killing some of these losers."

"But—"

"Shh!" At Riku's sharp whisper, Sora's mouth snapped shut. It didn't take him long to realize why Riku had called for silence—there must be someone coming down the next hallway.

Motioning for Sora to stay put, Riku crept around the corner. A few seconds later, Sora closed his eyes as shouts ripped out from the silence followed shortly by an exchange of gunfire. He couldn't see what was happening and he didn't _want_ to see what was happening. As long as Riku made it back, all Sora could do was to try and block it out.

Though he was clenching his eyes shut, Sora was lucky that he hadn't covered his ears as well or else he might have completely missed the sound of high heels clicking on concrete coming up the hall from the opposite direction. Immediately recognizing the sound, Sora's eyes flew open just in time to dodge Larxene's hand as she tried to grab him.

Sora stumbled back as Larxene smirked at him, a deadly glint in her eyes. "Now, now, Sora, don't make things any harder on yourself. I already warned you not to try and escape again but resisting will just make your punishment worse."

Dodging another of her attempts to grab him, Sora nimbly jumped out of reach only to find his back hitting a wall. Now he was trapped and he could tell Larxene knew it by the way her smile grew. Swallowing, Sora looked desperately for a way out. He was completely unarmed and the only places he could run were straight into Larxene's arms or into a firefight. There was only one thing he could think of to do. "Riku!"

Larxene tilted her head at his cry for help. "Riku? So he was the one who did this? I suppose I should have expected that. And I guess that's him down the hall causing all that noise, huh?" Sora grit his teeth as she finally reached him, her hand closing around his arm. "Let's see if we can't bring him back over here."

Struggling against her, Sora fought to tug himself free. He really didn't want to kick her, but he would if he had to! Just as suddenly as she had grabbed him though, the choice to fight back was taken away from him as a dagger seemed to suddenly appear in between her fingers and press itself to his throat. Gasping, Sora froze as he felt the cold metal press up against his skin.

Now that he had stopped squirming, Larxene moved to stand behind him, the tip of the dagger never leaving its place. "Go ahead and call for him again, Sora. But make it nice and loud this time, 'kay?"

Feeling himself start to shake, Sora closed his eyes. One wrong move from either him or Larxene and he would die. "R-Riku!"

The sound of gunfire around the corner continued. Larxene pressed the blade closer still and Sora bit back a cry as he felt it break the skin. "I guess he didn't hear you. Try again."

"_Riku!_"

This time, there was a pause as Sora's scream reverberated down the hall and seconds later Riku came barreling around the corner. Flinching, Sora bit his lip as Riku's eyes, wide with shock, met his. "Sora!"

"Riku, I'm sorry! I tried to—" Sora cut himself off with a gasp as Larxene changed the angle of her knife. A few feet away, Riku's eyes hardened and he raised his gun.

"Listen, lady, I don't know who the hell you are, but you don't want to do this. I got a fresh clip of ammo and just finished off all your buddies down the hall, so I suggest you let the kid go."

If Larxene was intimidated, she didn't show any sign of it but instead leaned closer to Sora. If she didn't have a dagger at his throat, Sora would've thought that she was flirting with him. "Isn't that sweet? You came all the way out here to rescue a little brat!"

"I said let him go!"

"Oh? What's this?" Sora winced as Larxene pressed the blade a little further into his flesh, a whimper escaping him as he felt a drop of blood trickle down his neck. "Does someone have some feelings for So-ra?"

Riku's jaw tightened and he stalked closer until he was only three feet away, almost close enough for Sora to touch. Never once did the aim of his handgun falter. "Last chance. Let him go, now, or I will kill you."

Larxene leaned forward with a smirk on her face, her chin resting on Sora's shoulder. "Thanks for the warning."

As soon as she leaned in, Sora felt the blade of her dagger pull away just a fraction. With Riku distracting her, she must've forgotten to keep a tight hold on the knife. No matter the cause, Sora knew to take his chances when he could.

Jerking his body sharply to the side, Sora sucked in a breath as the dagger scrapped over his collarbone as he twisted himself out of her grip. As soon as he was free Sora practically threw himself towards Riku. Instantly wrapping an arm around the teen, Riku used Sora's momentum to propel him further away from Larxene. "Run, Sora!"

Spinning around, Sora clapped a hand over his wound and was about to respond when something over the hitman's shoulder stole his attention. "Riku, look out!"

"Wha—shit!" Nearly getting slashed by a dagger, Riku swiftly jumped aside to avoid Larxene's next strike as she swung at his chest, a second dagger having materialized in her other hand.

She grinned as her next attack tore a thin streak through Riku's pant leg. "Don't underestimate me just because I'm a lady!"

Jumping back again so that he kept himself between Sora and Larxene, Riku tisked as he lifted his gun, "Don't count on it!"

Before Riku could get a shot off, she was in his face and sending a dagger swiping down towards his arm, the grin never having left her face. "You have to be faster than that if you want to beat me!"

Even from where Sora was standing, he could tell that it was just too much of a close-quarters fight for Riku to gain the advantage, even with a handgun, and it was clear Riku knew that too. Blocking another stab, he didn't even have the time to look back over his shoulder as he barked back at Sora, "Get out of here! I'll hold her off!"

Gripping tighter at the cut on his neck, Sora's lips set into a determined line. "I'm not leaving without you, Riku!"

"I'll follow you, just go!"

The force in Riku's voice left no room for argument and Sora stumbled back. Before he could move so much as a foot though, Larxene's sharp green eyes had once again landed on him. "I don't think so. Neither of you are going anywhere!" Kicking out, the heel of her boot caught Riku straight in his stomach and knocked the air out of him. As he doubled over from the blow, her attention turned back to her main prey.

Sora's face paled and he took another step back. "R-Riku."

"…Run, damn it!"

The hitman's words came out in one long gasp but Sora had still heard what he said. His eyes darted desperately up and down the hall. He had no idea which way to go to get out! Larxene was cutting off one direction but even if he chose the other, the hallway was lined with doors. Any one of them could lead to the exit! The last thing he wanted to do to either him or Riku was run straight into another gang of Organization members! "Riku, which way?"

Sora's question was answered by a chilling giggle, "Don't know how to get out?" Pressing himself up against the wall as Larxene drew back her hand, Sora gasped as a dagger suddenly cut through the air and embedded itself into the concrete mere inches from his nose. "Here, let me help you!"

Lurching to the side, Sora had to keep himself pressed up against the wall just to avoid tripping over his own feet. As he looked up he saw that she was getting ready to throw another knife and dove to the side, hearing the blade hit the wall just as he landed roughly on the ground. Heart pounding in his ears, Sora struggled to get back to his feet. There was a doorway just to his right, if he could make it inside, maybe he could find the way out, or at least a way to defend himself!

As he pushed himself up Sora knew that Larxene wasn't far behind. Launching himself into a sprint, Sora jumped for the door handle. His fingers slipped on the cool metal, too slick from the sweat on his palm and right when Sora thought he was about to have a dagger stabbed into his side a gunshot rang out.

"Don't go near him!" Sora had turned around at the sound of the gunshot and found that Riku had gotten back up on his feet. He clearly wasn't doing well—that shot had missed its target—but he had still recaptured Larxene's attention. Riku's face was drawn into a wince but there was fire shooting through his teal eyes. "We're not done yet!"

While Riku had her distracted Sora managed to get a better grip on the door handle and pushed it open, a wave of relief sweeping through him at the fact that it was actually unlocked. That feeling left him though as he stepped inside and got a good look at his would-be haven. It was a small, concrete room, nearly identical to the one that he had been locked up in earlier. There were a few boxes stacked up in the corner, but there weren't any weapons, or even a shovel or a broom, nothing that he could realistically use.

Whipping around as he heard Larxene laugh, Sora's hands clenched into fists as her words echoed back into the room. "But seeing your reaction when I kill him sounds like just too much fun to pass up!"

Riku responded with three more gunshots. Seeing Larxene running toward the room he was in to take cover, Sora quickly slid behind the stack of boxes. It would be obvious where he was hiding, but having some sort of a cover was better than just waiting around like a sitting duck to have a knife thrown into his chest!

"Get back here!" Chasing her inside, Riku took a few more shots at her but either he was still thrown off balance from earlier or Larxene was just a more agile opponent than he was used to because somehow she managed to get by with only a few of the bullets grazing her. Sora peeked out from the side of the crate and watched with wide eyes as Larxene spun around to take another swing at Riku. She had thrown two of her knives but apparently she at least had one more and was now making good use of it.

Once again, Larxene was staying too close for Riku to line up a good shot but he had learned from his mistakes during their first round. Dodging another swing, he flipped his gun around in his hand and began to swing back, trying to pistol whip her. The sudden change in attack caught her off guard and Riku managed to land a solid blow to the side of her head.

The brute force of it caused Larxene to drop the dagger she was holding and she collapsed to her knees with a soft cry of shock. Taking a deep breath to try and calm his breathing, Riku kicked the blade away and flipped his gun back over so that the barrel was once again pointed at her. "The tables sure do turn fast, don't they?"

Silently thanking whoever was watching over them, Sora made to stand up as Larxene cradled her head in her hand. "Riku, are you okay?"

Riku's face hardened as she looked up at the hitman and sparks seemed to fly as their eyes locked. "I'm fine, Sor. Stay where you are until I finish this."

His words caused Larxene's eyes to narrow into a glare but the woman stayed silent as she glared up at Riku. Unarmed, injured, and at point blank range, she had finally run out of things to say. And, no matter how much Sora disliked her and how much he was afraid of her, there was something about her defeated pose that just…Sora let out a long breath as his hands gripped at his shirt. "Riku…"

The man's eyes never left Larxene's. "What?"

"You, you can't just kill her. Not like this!"

"Sure I can, watch me."

As he looked at Riku, Sora could see the bloodlust in his eyes as the criminal stared Larxene down and it scared him almost as much as she did. "But, Riku! It—you can't—!"

Riku let out a frustrated growl as his finger tensed next to the trigger. "I can't? Give me one good reason I should let her live after what she did to you? She could've killed you, Sora! She still can!"

"That doesn't mean you should stoop to her level, Riku! Can't you just," Sora bit his lip, searching for the right words, "can't you just knock her out or something? Then we can still escape!"

"Sora—"

"It's not right to kill people, even if they are bad! Otherwise what would make you different from them, Riku? Please, don't do it! She's not even armed!"

Sora couldn't believe that he was begging for Larxene's life, but he couldn't let Riku go through with it. Maybe it didn't mean anything to the hitman, but it should, and it certainly did to Sora.

Whatever the reason, something in Sora's words seemed to strike a chord within Riku. For a single moment he hesitated, his index finger dancing across the trigger of his pistol as his certainty wavered. Unfortunately, that was all the time Larxene needed to act.

In the second that Riku had shown the slightest sign of weakness, she dropped into a crouch and high kicked, the heel of her boot catching Riku's wrist. The gun in his hand discharged harmlessly into the ceiling before flying out of his grasp and back out into the hall. Cursing and cradling his hand, Riku jumped back as Larxene rolled up onto her feet, that sadistic smirk back on her face as if it had never left. "You were right about one thing; the tables do turn fast! Should of killed me when you had the chance, Riku. It looks like the big, bad assassin's gone soft!"

Riku shook out his hand with a short growl, "Shut up! I won't make the same mistake twice!"

"Of course not, because there won't be a 'next time'!" Jumping back, Riku avoided a roundhouse kick aimed at his head and drew his body into a defensive stance. Just because both of them had lost their weapons didn't mean that the fight was over.

Lashing out with a deadly right hook, Riku just barely managed to maintain his balance as Larxene dodged his fist. A sharp grunt of pain burst past his lips as she slammed her knee up into his chest followed by a quick swipe of her arm aimed at the back of his neck. He was a good fighter but she had obviously had years of martial arts training and agility that Riku just didn't possess.

Sora watched in horror as Riku was thrown back against the wall, struggling for breath. This was all Sora's fault! If he hadn't stopped Riku, they could've been running out of here by now!

Starting forward, Sora ran over to him, keeping a wary eye across the small room on Larxene as he helped Riku up. With Sora's help, the silver-haired man pulled himself back up onto his feet but as soon as he was upright he shoved the teen away. "Get back behind the boxes, Sora."

"Tell me how I can help!"

"You can't help." Sora's eyes darted over to Larxene as she spoke, "There's nothing really either of you can do. I'm clearly the better fighter, so you might as well give up."

Riku grit his teeth then stepped away from the wall to place himself between Sora and Larxene. "It'll take a lot more than that to keep me down!"

"Then let's see how much it takes!"

Blocking a kick with his arm, Riku left himself open to Larxene's follow-up attack as she dealt a stinging blow to the chest. Riku fought back, better than even Sora would've given him credit for, but with every hit he landed, Larxene landed two. He just couldn't keep up, nor could he dodge her hits because doing so would've exposed Sora.

After one particularly brutal kick to the stomach Riku's body just couldn't take any more abuse and his knees buckled. Sora dove to catch him but Larxene beat him to it. Grabbing the asaassin by the collar of his jacket, she pulled him up just enough for him to be able to look up at her face through a blackened eye, his other hidden behind his bangs. Body beaten black and blue, there was a trickle of blood seeping out from the corner of his mouth but still he found the strength to fight back, his hands grasping at Larxene's to try and break her hold.

Shaking from head to toe, Sora held his breath as Larxene stared down at Riku, a streak of her own blood running down the side of her face like war paint. There was a slight tremor of exhaustion in her voice but most of it was overshadowed by rage. "As fun as that was, I think it's time we end our little game."

Riku grimaced as she gave him a rough shake. "Do…do what you want to me, but if you hurt Sora I will strangle you with your own intestines…"

"Aw, you're really not in a position to be making threats."

Tilting his head down, Riku spat blood at her boots. "That wasn't a threat, you bitch, it was a promise!"

Her gaze slid down to her boots then, as her eyes worked their way back up, Sora felt her look at him over Riku's shoulder before they landed back on the hitman's face. "I'm not gonna break my toys. I'm not dumb. Well, at least I won't break it yet. After all, more pain for you means more fun for me! And now that they're no more fight left in you, I'll get to take my sweet time." Tilting her head, her lips curled up into a smile. "What do you think, Riku? Do you think it'd be more fun to burn Sora to death or drown him? Oh, or maybe you're more of an electrocution guy? That's always been my favorite!"

"You're sick...!"

"Look who's talking. I recall reading about your handiwork in the papers. Tell me, how does it feel to be on the receiving end?"

"How about I just show you instead?"

With all the strength left in him, Riku swept his leg out and knocked Larxene's feet out from underneath her. She let go with a small shout and they both fell to the ground, Riku with a dull grunt of pain and Larxene with a shriek of rage. Immediately she jumped back onto her feet and drew her hand back for the finishing blow, but this time Sora was ready too.

As soon as Riku knocked her down Sora had predicted what would happen next and knew that he couldn't let Riku take any more hits. In his condition, the next could be his last. Without a second thought, he jumped in front of Riku just in time to have Larxene's punch land square on his shoulder instead of Riku's face.

Reeling backwards from the force of it, Sora heard Riku let out a small noise of alarm but surprised himself and everyone else in the room by straightening up and shaking it off. It still stung and it was sure to bruise, but the cost was more than worth it. This _was_ all his fault, but even now Sora couldn't find it within himself to regret his actions.

"Get out of the way, brat. You'll get your turn."

"No!" Ignoring his throbbing shoulder, Sora spread his arms out to block Riku from view. "If you want Riku, you'll have to go through me first!"

"Well isn't that just…pathetic. But fine, we'll do it your way. Are you watching this, Riku? Because you're about to watch your little boy toy here get himself beaten to death trying to protect scum like you."

"I'll take that as a confession."

All three pairs of eyes in the room instantly zeroed in on the new voice and Sora could've cried as he spotted spiky red hair and a long black trench coat. "Axel!"

"The one and only." Axel's tone was light but the detective's face was dead serious as he stood in the doorway, one hand in his pocket and the other out and holding his police-issued handgun. "Hey, Larx. Didn't expect to find you here."

"Axel…" Venom dripped from her voice, having forgotten all about Sora and Riku in favor of the pistol aimed at her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"My job. I mean of course my new job, with the cops, not the old one with the Organization. So I would suggest real strongly that you get your hands behind your head."

Larxene scoffed but she slowly did as he ordered and Sora wondered if he was the only one in the room who was confused. Axel had worked for the Organization? Since when? By their conversation and the looks on the redhead's and Larxene's faces, this definitely wasn't the first time they'd met.

"I heard you'd gone against the Organization, but I never really believed it until now."

Stepping further into the room, Axel walked through with a deceptively calm stride until he had put himself between Larxene and Sora and Riku. "Yeah, well, people change. Okay, some do. You apparently don't, though I never would've pegged you as willing to lower yourself down to a kidnapping."

A dry smile stretched across her lips. "Boss's orders."

"Ah, got it. Speaking of which, how are they doing? I heard they managed to get themselves out of prison a few days ago."

"That's right. No thanks to the idiots on your side of the law. Right now they're pretty comfortable actually, working out a little home-warming party."

"Party, huh? Am I invited?"

Larxene's smile twisted up a little more. "I'm sure they'd be happy to see you. After all, you already know the three guests of honor. In fact, one of them is lying right behind you." Sora blinked as Larxene's eyes landed back onto Riku as he tried to pull himself together. "The Superior can't wait until they arrive. I hear he already has three stakes outside, all ready for their heads to be stuck on them."

"Too bad, I guess he'll just have to keep waiting."

Sora jumped as Axel switched the safety off his gun and Larxene giggled. "What are you going to do, Axel? Kill me?"

The redhead stared down at her for a few more minutes before he used his spare hand to reach back inside his coat. "Nah, you know what?" Retrieving his hand, he pulled out a pair of handcuff. "I'm going to let you have the pleasure of explaining what happened here to the Boss. It's gotta be one hell of a story."

Sora swore he saw Larxene's face pale a little as Axel marched her over to the door and with one hand cuffed her to the door handle. "You're going to make the same mistake your friends over there did? Because when I get out of this, Axel, you'll be the first person I come after."

"I believe you. But I can't just kill people whenever the hell I feel like it anymore. I also believe that what the Superior will do to you for failing to keep a seventeen year old boy hostage will be much worse than whatever we could do to you down at the station. So…have fun with that." Making sure she was locked up securely, Axel finally tucked his gun back into its holster and turned back to Sora and Riku. "Are you guys alright?"

Sora nodded then frowned down at Riku. "I'm fine but Riku is hurt."

"Yeah." Kneeling down next to them, Axel did a quick inspection of Riku's wounds much to the man's annoyance. "You look like you just earned yourself another trip to the hospital."

Looking up at the detective, Riku winced. "Just…get us out of here."

"With pleasure." Standing back up, Axel eyed his parolee warily. "You don't need me to carry you or anything, do y—?"

Riku shut the question down before Axel could even finish his sentence. "Definitely not. Just make sure no one shoots us in the back on our way out."

OoOoOo

As it turned out, Axel didn't have any trouble getting them out of the building. After Riku had fought his way inside it seemed that the few surviving members had, for the most part, ran away. Sora would've been shocked except that he remembered the carnage Axel had led them through on their way out. All the people that Riku had killed on his way in…Sora had been surprised that there were even that many thugs stationed in one building.

It also turned out that while Riku didn't need Axel to carry him he was unable to walk down more than one hall without his legs giving out again so Sora had taken up the task of supporting him. Luckily, he was the perfect height for the task, one of Riku's arms slung around Sora's shoulders while Sora kept one of his arms wrapped snugly around the assassin's back to keep him upright.

When they emerged from the concrete prison, Sora had been amazed to find himself surrounded by a dense forest and it took Axel a couple of tries before Sora finally understood that they were in the woods outside of Twilight Town. There was nothing more than a small dirt service road leading up to the Organization's compound and the only car sitting out front was Axel's.

Piling inside, Sora helped Riku into the backseat and collapsed against the man, suddenly exhausted from everything that had happened. Now that they were out, the full weight of what he had just gone through hit him hard and he felt completely drained. Beside him, Riku was already half asleep, their heads tilting to rest against the other's as Axel walked around the car and sat down in the driver's seat. "Alright, we're out of here, guys, and heading back into town. Riku, I wasn't joking about that hospital thing."

Grunting back an unintelligible response, Riku just pulled Sora a little closer to him and closed his eyes. Axel, who was watching in the rearview mirror, shook his head and started up the engine. "I'll take that as a heartfelt proclamation of your undying gratitude for saving your ass."

Sora knew that he was talking to Riku, but couldn't help but reply anyway. "Thank you, Axel. You really did save us."

The detective glanced up into the rearview mirror once more as he pulled out onto the road, his voice softened. "I'm just glad that I found you in time. You did good, Sora, real good. I hope you know that."

"Yeah…" Sora didn't feel like he had done well, but didn't feel up to making an argument of it right now.

He felt Axel's eyes on him for a moment longer before the redhead let out a small noise, "Oh, right! Damn, I almost forgot, I need to call Cloud."

From the backseat, Sora watched as Axel pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialed a number. From where he was sitting, he couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but even so, he felt himself relax a little more. Axel was calling Cloud and there was little doubt in Sora's mind that Cloud was with Squall. He wanted his brother to know that he was okay.

"Cloud, it's me. Okay, so good news first. I got Sora _and_ Riku back…Yeah, I know, I'm a miracle worker…Bad news is that Riku got himself a little beaten up and he needs to go to the hospital…Huh? No, Sora's fine. It's just Riku, you can relax…Wait, before you start celebrating there's more bad news. It looks like whatever's going on isn't over yet. The bosses are planning something big and they're gunning for Riku, Leon, and Zexion. Something needs to be done, soon, or else we're all going to wind up dead."


	17. Chapter 17

Whoa, Chapter 17 already? Jeez, the story must be coming close to an end! XD Sorry for the wait in updating. Unfortunately I can't guarantee that the next chapter will be out any faster than this one, now that I get to balance writing and school (I'll have you know that the balance is already tipped strongly towards writing), but, as I always say, I'll do my best! But it really is your guys' awesome comments and reviews that fuel my determination, so many thanks go out to: RkM4U, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Aindel S. Druida, Mahon, nearcreature, xacilia, Krad, Shinimegami7, youknowily, Becca86, ramen-is-my-goddess, Mirror and Darkling, ChaosGarden, kingdomheartslover13, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, mello-jeevas, Keira-93, Whimsical Dreamer, r a a i n, Dragi, shrouded-obsession, Mischievious Kitsune, Blah, and SlippingSanity! (Note to Mahon: I felt bad I couldn't reply to your response! Active your "Private Message" option!) You guys are the best! ^_^

O

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Chapter 17

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Pressing his phone closer to his ear, Cloud covered his other ear with his free hand to block out any ambient noise. Axel's call was so full of static that he could barely make out what the other was saying. "Wind up dead? Axel, just what happened out there?"

"_It's a really long story. But from wha…nds like the boss really wants his rev…ot Sora back, they'll probably make their mo…ew days so we have to…oes._"

"Ax, you're breaking up. Can you hear me?"

"_So…eptions pre…ut here._"

"I can barely understand you anymore. Call me back when you get Riku to the hospital, alright?"

"_Sure thi…o you soo…._"

Cloud shook his head as the call cut off. At least Axel had been able to relay some information to him before the reception got so bad. He was probably driving back through the woods then…Hopefully Axel had heard Cloud and would call back once he got into town.

Sliding his cell phone back into his pocket, Cloud immediately headed from the kitchen and back into the living room where Leon and Zexion were talking about…something. Honestly, Cloud was doing his best to ignore them in favor of making sure that Leon didn't overexert himself. Ever since the soldier had realized that he wouldn't be able to go after Sora a few hours ago he had refused to sit down. It was like he was trying to work his muscles back into working order. To Leon's credit he hadn't collapsed yet, but Cloud wasn't fooled. His face was still a few shades too pale to be healthy.

"Leon."

Both Leon and Zexion looked up, Leon stopping dead in his tracks as he paced across the room. "What is it? Who called?"

"That was Axel."

Before Cloud could continue, Leon's face had drawn up into a frown. "What'd he called for? Is there more trouble?"

Right. Cloud hadn't told them about the call he had made earlier yet… "Surprisingly, no. It's good news." Taking the seat on the couch that Leon had long since abandoned, Cloud turned to watch for Leon's reaction. "Sora's fine. Axel have both him and Riku and is taking them into Twilight Town."

The expression on Leon's face was definitely worth whatever came next. Cloud had never seen such pure relief on anyone's face before. For the past few hours now it had seemed like Leon's brain had been covered in a thick fog but, now that he knew that Sora was alright, the panic in his stormy eyes faded and his gaze seemed to grow a little clearer.

As some of the tension melted from his shoulders, Leon stumbled forward and leaned up against the back of the couch, right behind Cloud. "Thank god…"

Tilting his head up, Cloud met his gaze and gave him a small smile. "Apparently Sora is healthy, but Riku will need some medical attention so they're going to the hospital."

"So Riku found him after all…" Leon returned the smile, but as Cloud kept eye contact he watched as Leon's face slowly changed from thankful to confused and he knew that Leon was figuring things out. "But…Axel found them? Why would Axel be…?"

Cloud mentally sighed as he saw Leon straighten up and he tilted his chin back down. He didn't want to see anything resembling betrayal in _Leon_'_s_ eyes of all people. Not with everything else Cloud was doing for him.

"Cloud, why was Axel out there?"

Much to Cloud's annoyance Zexion seemed to be content to just remain silent and watch the show. Ignoring their audience, he tried to think of any good reason to give as to why Axel would be snooping around the woods without knowing anything about the situation. Then he realized that he might as well just tell the truth. Leon wasn't stupid so he'd find out either way. "After Zexion came over and I understood the situation a little better, I called Axel to ask him for help. It looks like it worked out."

"I told you not to involve the police!"

Crossing his arms, Cloud scowled over at the blank TV screen, his gaze anywhere but Leon's face. "Calling Axel is hardly calling the police!"

"Bullshit!"

"It wasn't an official investigation or anything, Axel acted on his own. Besides, it didn't seem like a lot else was getting done following your plan."

"Sora could've been killed!"

Finally urged on by the rage in Leon's voice, Cloud turned around to face him again, blue eyes flashing, "The risk paid off, so how about showing some gratitude instead?"

Leon's eyes narrowed, hardened into a steel grey. "How about next time you gamble with your own brother's life and then we'll talk about gratitude?"

"Enough!" Jerking away from Leon's glare, Cloud turned back to shoot an angry look at Zexion for interrupting. The career criminal was unphased as he glared right back. "As much as it surprises me, I think I prefer the two of you making eyes at each other than the two of you arguing. It is nearly as bad as when Leon and Riku get into it…" Cloud rolled his eyes as he heard Leon snort. "Furthermore, if there are any questions to be asked about Axel finding Sora and Riku it should be about how he managed to find the location of the Organization's hideout."

Cloud had been pretty sure that this subject would be brought up. He just hadn't counted on how soon Zexion would pick up on it. He had half-way been hoping that whatever pain medication Zexion was on would have slowed his thought process a little faster than this. A glance back over his shoulder told Cloud that he would be getting no support from Leon who was looking just as eager to hear Cloud try and come up with an answer. "Both of you know that Axel was in the Organization. He claims that he's cut off all ties with them for two years now, but it shouldn't surprise anyone that he still has his contacts. I'm sure he'd usually rather shoot himself in the foot than go to them for help, but he probably asked one of them about the hideout's location and went from there." Cloud looked up at Leon. "That he had to use his old contacts at all should be proof enough that the rest of the police department didn't know anything about this. Axel going to them for help isn't exactly something the Chief would approve of. I don't even think Ax can tell anyone where the hideout is after this, because the Organization would start coming after _him_ next for talking."

Leon just grunted in response but Cloud thought he saw some of his anger beginning to wash away. That was good because they definitely needed to be on the same side during whatever happened next. Zexion was a little more verbal with his response. "I suppose that could serve as a valid excuse…"

Bristling, Cloud spun back around to look at him. "It's not an excuse, it's the truth. By the way, while we're at it why don't you start explaining how Riku knew where to go while you and Leon know next to nothing about where the hideout is located. Is Riku that much smarter than you, or are you just withholding evidence, Zexion?"

Playing against Zexion's pride was a dirty interrogation tactic, but Cloud wasn't in the mood to play nice. He wasn't going to let Zexion bad-mouth Axel when his own partner was off doing the exact same thing.

"I am afraid neither of those two options is correct. Just because Riku and I are in the same line of business does not mean that we specialize in the same thing, nor does it mean we know the same people. I have resources he does not and vice versa. Also, Riku is willing to talk to some people that I would rather…not associate myself with. Or go within twenty feet of." Zexion's brow scrunched up in distaste. "Dangerous men usually seriously lacking in personal hygiene skills…Anyway, in the heat of the moment, Riku undoubtedly called one of these persons up for information. I will not ask which he called, nor do I expect him to tell me."

"And that explanation is so much better than mine was…"

"Do not be petty, Detective Strife. You are one of few among my acquaintances who I expect to be more mature than that."

Cloud sighed and rested his forehead in his hands. At least he couldn't feel Leon's stare drilling into his back anymore. "On my better days, you'd be right." But even on his worst days, Cloud knew that he still had to at least make a show of being above those sorts of things. Pulling himself back together, he decided that a change in subject might prove to be the best remedy. "Anyway, now that we know Sora and Riku are safe, you two can drop whatever plans you were making and we can redirect our attention to getting everyone out of town."

"Sorry Detective, but I am afraid that the time for us to escape has long since passed."

Cloud's gaze snapped back over to Zexion. "Excuse me?"

Sighing, Zexion actually looked tired as he leaned back against the sofa he was sitting on. "When the Organization kidnapped Sora they made they're position quite clear. That they would stoop to such a level…No matter where we run, no matter how much of a secret we keep it, I doubt that they will give in until their goal is met."

"So, what?" Leon walked around the couch and finally took a seat next to Cloud, apparently having forgiven the man enough to allow the near contact. "I'm not just going to turn myself into them, especially now that Sora's out."

"I would never suggest such a thing. However, I would suggest that we carry on with the plans we have been discussing regardless of the fact that your brother and Riku have escaped."

"Alright, hold on for a second." Holding up a hand to quiet Zexion, Cloud turned to Leon knowing he'd have more luck getting information from his parolee than from Zexion. "Before you go further, someone's going to have to explain your plan to me. Since Sora isn't in danger anymore, I can't justify this whole plotting thing to myself anymore, so you're either going to include me or drop it."

Leon's frown never left his face but, after a second's pause, he shrugged his shoulders. "…Whatever. Zexion, just tell him."

"I think that would be unwise—"

Cutting Zexion off with a short growl, Leon crossed his arms. "The plan isn't exactly a smart one anyway. I don't see how Cloud knowing about it is going to make it any more ridiculous."

Cloud turned his gaze from Leon to Zexion as the older man let out a huff. "Fine, I get it. But I will warn you know, Detective Strife, that you will not like it."

Raising his brows, Cloud mentally debated if he should just stand up and walk out the door for what felt like the hundredth time today. But if he left now, he knew that not knowing what Leon and Zexion's plan was would drive him crazy anyway. Besides, although Leon was forcing himself into better health, there was no way that Cloud was just going to let him run off and go on some sort of mission alone. Even though Sora was safe now, Leon still needed him, and Cloud needed for Leon not to get himself killed. "I'm sure I won't like it, but tell me anyway." It couldn't be much worse than what he was already imagining.

"Very well." Zexion held onto his side as he took in a deep breath then launched into his story as Leon sat silently beside Cloud. "It is clear that the danger the Organization poses is quickly escalating so we must act quickly, not only to save ourselves but now the lives of those closest to us."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I was getting there. As of now, our next plan of action is simple. We cannot continue to run or hide until this problem settles itself out. The larger the distance we try to put between ourselves and the Organization, the worse their punishment seems to be. So, in light of this, Leon and I have come to terms with the fact that the only effective solution remaining is that we face our opponents head on."

"What, you're just going to surrender to the Organization?"

"Quite the opposite, we intend to put a stop to this once and for all. Our efforts two years ago were obviously not enough to finish the job so we are going to try again."

Cloud could feel a dark feeling welling up in his chest. This was definitely not what he wanted to hear. "And just how are you going to do that?"

"They say that the only efficient way to kill a snake is to take off its head. Likewise, the only way to permanently debilitate the Organization is to take out its leaders."

Feeling the blood threaten to run from his face, Cloud forced himself to maintain a level expression. "You're talking about assassination."

"I suppose that it what it essentially boils down to, yes."

Leaning forward, Cloud rested his hands on his knees as he tried to gather his thoughts. "That's…What are you even planning on doing?"

"The details will work themselves out later. But now that I have explained it to you, Detective, I fully intend for you to either participate or step aside and let Leon and I do our work. Just think of it as taking down a powerful crime syndicate, just a little more…proactively than the police do."

"It's not the result that bothers me, Zexion, it's the process! Leon," turning, Cloud's blue eyes met grey, searching for empathy, "I want to help. I do, but I can't let you go through with this! I won't let you do that to yourself, not after everything else. This whole incident with Sora has been bad enough, but I can't, I can't just turn a blind eye to this and go along with it!"

Leon didn't break his gaze, trying equally hard to convey an unspoken need for understanding. "What should we do then? Zexion warned you that you weren't going to like the plan, Cloud. If you have a better idea, we'll listen, but this needs to happen. I'm not going to run anymore."

On Cloud's other side, Zexion nodded. "None of us are. And if you are not willing to help, that makes you a hindrance. Perhaps you should think about loosening your morals."

Scowling, Cloud opened his mouth but blinked in surprise as Leon's sharp response cut off his own. "No." Leon frowned as he became the new target of Zexion's glare, his stormy eyes turning down to stare at his lap. "If Cloud doesn't want to be a part of this, don't force him, Zexion. You're asking too much."

Cloud stared at Leon, not knowing whether to feel insulted or grateful. He was a little ticked off at the fact that Leon was implying that he wouldn't be able to do what was needed for their plan to work, because he definitely could. But, maybe Leon realized that to do anything like what Zexion was suggesting would be going against everything Cloud believed in. Maybe Leon wasn't willing for Cloud to make that sacrifice. And for that, Cloud couldn't help but feel thankful.

Sighing, Zexion threw his arms up into the air, his irritation cut short by a stab of pain from the sudden movement. With a grimace, he lowered his arms back down and clasped a hand over his ribcage. "Ungh…It, it seems we have reached an impasse then. Detective, if you do not support our plan, I cannot depend on you to stay out of our way, no matter what Leon may claim to the contrary."

Cloud shook his head, unable to deny what Zexion had said. But he wasn't ready to end this in a standstill. It was obvious to him that Leon and Zexion were very serious about bringing down the Organization, at any cost. Even if Cloud did somehow manage to convince them to drop this plan, they would just come up with another behind his back. He needed to stay with them to make sure Leon, and Zexion, didn't do anything stupid. "Well, since I can't join in your plan and you can't afford for me not to, there's only one thing to do. We need to change your plan so that I can help."

Next to him, Leon straightened up as Zexion released a small huff from the other couch. "And how do you propose we do that?"

"Make it legal."

He could tell he definitely had captured Leon's attention by the way the soldier's face focused in on his. "Is there a way to do that? I don't think that the police would support any sort of attack on anyone, no matter what sort of illegal business they're into."

"They wouldn't, not under any sort of normal circumstances." Pursing his lips, Cloud wracked his brain for every useful bit of protocol he could remember. "We'd never support any kind of assassination attempt, but it isn't unheard of for the police to launch raids against known criminal hideouts when the chance presents itself. We only do it when we know that there's a chance that we can pin our perps with some hard jail time."

Leon nodded. "But the head bosses, Xemnas, Saix, and Xaldin, were already put in jail, they just escaped. That should be plenty enough cause to go after them again."

"It is. Half the cops in the county are out looking for them right now." Cloud's eyes lit up. "If you two manage to find them, and I happened to be with you, I think that would be enough to justify taking them down. But you'd have to play by our rules. It would mean that you couldn't kill them unless they literally have a gun in their hands and are firing at you."

Zexion seemed less than pleased with the idea. "If we do not kill them, how will the result be any different than the one we have already tried? We have already attempted to lock them up in jail, and look how well that has turned out for us. Besides, I still want to avoid working with the police. I am barely able to tolerate you as it is, Detective, I do not need a whole precinct breathing down my neck and poking their noses into my business."

"As far as the prison issue goes. They were originally put into Twilight Town County Penitentiary because it hadn't been shown that they had ever participated in any violent crimes. The County Jail usually holds lower profile criminals and, looking back on it, it's clear they weren't prepared to handle the Organization bosses. Once we recapture them though, I can have the Chief recommend that they be transferred to a maximum security prison in Dark City which should work out much better. As for the police issue, if it makes you go along with the plan, no one else from the station needs to be involved in this except for me, and maybe Axel. The paperwork will be a little trickier, but it's possible."

Cloud watched Leon's face as he and Zexion stared each other down. He could tell from Leon's expression that he was seriously considering Cloud's plan but whether Zexion would go for it was another question entirely. Cloud hadn't spent nearly enough time with Zexion to be able to tell what the enigmatic man was thinking so he was stuck using Leon's reaction to translate it for him.

Finally, after felt like hours, Zexion heaved a sigh. "Unfortunately I am not in much of a position to argue with both of you. So, Detective Strife, I will go along with your plan so long as it seems to be working. Whatever happens though will be on your head."

Thank god, something was going right for once! Relatively speaking of course. Before either of the two felons could change their mind, Cloud bounced to his feet. "I am capable of taking responsibility for my own actions. And whatever happens now it will be better than what would have happened if I had let you two go off on your own. I'm going to go call the Chief and then we can figure out our next move."

Cloud felt Leon's eyes following him as he walked back into the kitchen. "The Police Chief? But you said you wouldn't involve the rest of the police. Again."

Hearing a bitter edge working its way back into Leon's tone, Cloud sent him a warning glare. "This time I meant it. And I need to check in with him, if for nothing else than to fill him in on what's going on with Axel…" Cloud's voice trailed off as he pulled his cell phone back out of his pocket. "I won't name any names or give him any specifics, but part of the whole 'legal' thing is giving the Chief a rough estimate of what we're going to get into."

"If you must, then make it fast. We have work to do."

Giving Zexion a nod to show that he had heard, Cloud slipped around the corner. It wasn't that he didn't want them to hear what he was going to be saying, he just felt more comfortable without an audience listening to his every word. He didn't intend to go back on his promise to Leon this time, or ever again, but Cloud was fairly certain that Zexion would have nitpicked at every sentence that came out of his mouth if he had stayed in the living room.

Cloud dialed the phone as he leaned back against the counter, not giving himself any time to start second-guessing himself. He needed to believe that he was doing the right thing. Luckily, Auron never let his phone ring for very long; "_Police Chief McKenzie speaking._"

Straightening up, Cloud's fingers tightened on his cell phone. "Chief, it's Detective Strife."

"_Cloud, where the hell have you and Axel been?_"

He grimaced. Auron was already in a bad mood. Not a good start to the conversation. "We're still wrapped up in that work we were doing involving the Organization. I'm checking in on Axel's behalf; his parolee had a run-in with the gang and Axel should be escorting him to the hospital right now." Auron thankfully already knew that they had retrieved Leon, Riku, and Zexion and were holding them in custody. Things would've really gotten messy if the Chief hadn't agreed to that and had made Cloud send them all back to jail where the judicial system said they belonged. "Meanwhile, I'm going to be following up on a tip about the Organization's whereabouts."

"_Who gave you the tip?_"

Cloud bit his lip. If he said that he was going along with Leon and Zexion, the Chief would definitely think that he was falling too far off the path. "Some acquaintances of Leon. I think it's pretty trustworthy so I'm following up." Taking a breath, Cloud tried to keep his voice as even as possible. Auron was sharp; one slip up and he would know that Cloud was up to something. "Just in case, if I do happen to run into any ranking gang members, do I have clearance to arrest them on sight?"

"_By yourself? No. Listen to me Strife, you need at least one other officer there with you if you think you'll be making actual contact and arresting suspects. It's not just Twilight Town law, it's a matter of your personal safety. Also, another set of eyes there will help prove in court that no funny business went down during the arrest_."

"But—"

"_No 'buts'. This isn't about heroics, Strife, you should know this by now. It's about staying alive and getting the job done. So if you think you're going into a dangerous situation, you need someone else with a badge there with you. That's you're your partner's there for. Understand?_"

"Yes, sir."

"_Good. Keep your head on straight, boy, and don't throw away your career—or your life—on a whim._"

Cloud's shoulders fell a bit. Why did it feel like Auron knew more than Cloud had told him? "No, sir."

"_Alright. Keep me posted._"

"Yes, sir. I'll be in touch…"

OoOoOo

After Cloud disappeared into the kitchen, Squall let out a long breath. Leaning back against the back of the couch, he ran his hands over his face as he gently stretched out his legs. His muscles already burned a little after having suddenly been forced to work again after so many days of bed rest, but it was the good kind of burn. Save for the sharper, hotter burn around the area in his calf where the doctors had dug the bullet out of his skin. It wasn't anything another dose of pain killers couldn't cure though.

The pain killers were also the only things keeping a massive headache at bay. As soon as he had found out that Sora would be alright all the worry had flooded out of his body, but now Squall was left to run on exhausted emotions. Then there was the whole fight he just had with Cloud…He could feel his brain teetering on the edge of shutting down and letting his body just run on instinct, but that wasn't what he wanted. With things as they were, he still needed to be here mentally as well as physically. It was harder than he thought it would be.

"I am still uncomfortable with this whole ordeal, Leon."

Squall sighed again. He knew that there was no way Zexion would give up on his original plan so easily. "I can tell."

"I have little trouble trading the police information for favors but the idea of working directly with them is ridiculous. Even if it is Detective Strife. Moreover no one can realistically expect us to be satisfied with our results if all our efforts are simply going to end in Xemnas and the others being returned to jail."

Releasing a small hum of agreement, Squall let his hands slide down to roughly massage his legs. He might have worked them a little too hard today. "I don't think they do, but it looks like it's the best we're going to get. With Riku out of the picture and you pretty much crippled, you and I both know that we can't do this on our own. We need Cloud's help if we want _anything_ to get done. Which means that we need to plan something that he'll be willing to help out with. He suggested a raid—it's not a bad substitute for your idea." Squall winced as he found a particularly sore spot, the area right above his healing bullet wound. "Since your idea pretty much was just break in and shoot them up anyway."

Zexion huffed. "It sounds so artless when you say it."

"That's because it is. Anyway…" Squall's voice trailed off for a moment as he tentatively stretched his leg out again, happily finding that the sting had faded. He might actually be able to walk on it normally in time for whatever they were planning if he kept it up. "You say you want to go after the head of the Organization. Xemnas, right?" Squall looked over to catch Zexion nodding. "I thought we didn't know where he and the others were since they broke out of jail?"

"We don't—"

"—Then how—?"

"—but I know how to find out."

Squall hated when Zexion tried to be mysterious. Opening his mouth to demand a real answer, his words died in his throat as Cloud came back into the room. The blonde's entire demeanor had changed, not dramatically but Squall could tell. Cloud was frustrated. "What happened?"

Cloud's eyes flew up from the cell phone in his hand to land on Squall's face. At first Squall didn't think that Cloud was going to tell him what was wrong but then the detective seemed to change his mind. With a quick shake of his head, Cloud put his hand on his hip and glared back down at his phone. "I didn't give the Chief any details but he said that if I'm looking into the Organization I'm legally going to need at least one other person as backup."

Squall didn't need to look back to tell that Zexion had just rolled his eyes. "Oh, excellent. And so the red tape begins…"

Ignoring Zexion's sarcasm, Squall met Cloud's eyes. "I'll be your backup. I'm more than qualified."

The look Cloud sent him was a strange mix between exasperation and endearment. "Yeah, except you're a felon. I need someone with a badge."

"Could you call Axel?"

"No, he'll be too tied up with Riku at the hospital, not to mention he's the last person I would want to involve with this. If this is brought to court and he was the one I brought in for help, his background with the Organization would be brought up for sure. He'd probably have to quit the Force to avoid a scandal."

Squall frowned, searching through his memories for anyone they could call. Someone in law enforcement, who'd be willing to participate in something less than obviously legal. Someone like... "Cloud, give me your phone."

"Why?"

"I have an idea."

"Why do you need my phone?" Despite his questions, Cloud nevertheless crossed the room and passed Squall his cell.

"Because I still haven't programmed his number into mine yet. That, and he probably wouldn't answer right now if he saw my name on the caller ID."

"Oh."

With that simple 'oh' Squall knew that Cloud understood what he was up to. A few seconds later he was dialing a number and three rings later someone picked up on the other end.

"_What do you want, Strife? I'm in a shitty mood._"

Was Almasy ever in a good mood? "It's Squall. I'm using Cloud's phone again."

"_Figures…_" Squall could almost hear the sneer in the other's voice. "_If you're calling to complain again, I swear to god, Leonhart, I'm going to come over there and kick your ass_."

"I don't have a complaint. I have an offer for a reassignment."

"_What, you want to pull me out now? What about your brother?_"

"Axel—Detective Flynn found Sora and has custody of him for now."

"_Wait, how the hell did Flynn find their hideout when we've been looking for the past damn twenty hours?_"

Squall was pretty sure that Cloud wouldn't want him talking to Seifer about the sort of arrangements Axel had to make to find out where the Organization was keeping Sora. "Luck."

"_How about he fills us in on its location?_"

"…He forgot where it is."

"_He forgot?_"

"Yes."

"…_Screw you, I'm hanging up_—"

"Wait!" Squall knew he had been pushing it, but he needed Seifer to hear him out. "Almasy, we need your help with something else now."

"_I'm not your god-damned servant, Leon. I kind of have a job to do!_"

"You'd still be doing your job. Only it'll be more…hands-on."

There was a pause and Squall looked up at Cloud who eagerly met his gaze. He knew what Almasy's weaknesses were; if his old SeeD commander felt that he could be more useful somewhere else, he would jump at the chance to go there. That, and Seifer really hated pointless missions."…_Do I have official permission to get out of this damn forest?_"

By now Cloud had leaned in close enough that he heard Seifer's question and he gave Squall a tight shrug. Good enough. "Sure, let's say so."

"…_Fine. Where are you?_"

Hook, line, and sinker. "Traverse."

"_I'll be there in two hours_."

Squall couldn't help it as a small, smug smile slipped across his lips as he hung up and handed the cell phone back to Cloud. "I just got you a partner."

Cloud's blue eyes flashed. "Seifer?"

"Yeah."

"Well…better than nothing. He has a badge at least." Cloud's brow furrowed as he put his phone back into his pocket. "And he didn't even ask what the job was?"

"Nope. I don't think he cares, as long as it isn't what he's doing now."

Cloud tilted his head. "Maybe. But I think it's also because he probably trusts your judgment, Leon." Squall stared up at the detective who returned his look with a tight smile. "Let's try not to let him down. Which reminds me," Cloud's gaze switched over to Zexion, "I'm hoping that while I made my call earlier you were able to come up with a plan that's a little more, concrete."

"You should be more grateful, but yes. I have fleshed out some of the details, and knowing that soon we will have another helping hand makes it even better. As I was explaining to Leon, we will need to locate the Organization bosses. Luckily, I know just who to get our information from."

Cloud pursed his lips, clearly imagining the worst. "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

"My dear friend Marluxia." Squall started as Zexion's eyes grew darker. "He should be nearby in fact…"

Confused as hell, Squall shook his head. "Marluxia? How do you know he isn't back in Twilight Town?"

"It is a possibility but…Marluxia never did like getting his hands dirty. I doubt he would have willingly stayed at the base Sora was being kept at while he was being held hostage. There was a chance that the three of us would show up after all, and I doubt he would have been willing to put himself in the line of fire like that. No, he is more of the type to come around from behind, metaphorically, and make sure that everything is going to plan. I suspect that he is, in fact, in Traverse Town and watching us as we speak."

"What—?" Cloud started and made to move over to the window to check but stopped as Zexion continued to speak.

"Not _right_ outside, but somewhere close. And I know enough about him and how he works that it will not be too difficult to lure him out of hiding."

Glancing down at Squall, Cloud raised a brow as he leaned back against the wall. "How _do_ you know him, anyway?"

"He was once a contact of mine, perhaps I almost would have dared to call him a friend. That was before he sold himself out to the Organization. It is a shame…but, sadly for him, any fond feelings I had left over for him disappeared when he tried to kill us the first time."

"Yeah…I can see how that would put a damper on a relationship. But you want to lure him out of hiding to see what he knows?" Zexion nodded and Cloud let out a breath of air. "As long as that doesn't involve killing anyone, let's just get this over with."

"Hm. If you continue with that attitude, Detective Strife, you may win me over yet."

OoOoOo

An hour and a half later, Squall found himself and Cloud walking shoulder to shoulder down one of the narrow alleyways in the Third District of Traverse Town. Before they had set out, Cloud had rented a car for the night so that he wouldn't "have to watch Leon hobble around like a cripple all afternoon", so they had driven out to the area. By now even the long daylight hours of summer were beginning to fade, casting long shadows over the city, their current path nearly completely enveloped in darkness. They had been wandering around the shadiest parts of the district for about half an hour and Squall wished that it was just because they had gone on an afternoon walk. In Zexion's scheme to turn the hunter into the hunted, Squall hadn't expected that he and Cloud would be sent out as bait.

He could feel discomfort rolling off of Cloud in waves. The detective was walking with his arms down at his side, one hand dangerously close to Squall's, their knuckles brushing every so often. More than a desire to be close, Squall knew that it was just because Cloud wanted to have fast access to the gun Squall had tucked inside his cropped leather jacket if it was needed. Because they hadn't wanted to scare Marluxia away, Zexion had stripped Cloud of his own weapon. There was no way Cloud would've been able to conceal his pistol underneath his dress shirt, tie, and slacks, and if the blonde wore his trench coat out in this heat it would be too suspicious.

As they walked down the alleyway, a narrow lane tucked between two three story buildings lined with backdoors and trashcans, Cloud's eyes darted around into every nook and cranny, the blue color seeming to glow in the low light. Squall meanwhile tried to keep his eyes forward and his hearing focused on what was going on behind them—he didn't need anything taking them by surprise.

When they had first started, Squall had had his doubts that Marluxia was even in town but the more they walked the more he started to believe that Zexion had been telling the truth. There was definitely someone watching them, he could feel it.

"I'm really not sure if I'm okay with this anymore."

Squall glanced over at Cloud and knew that the detective felt the eyes on them as well. He had spoken in a low murmur and Squall copied his tone, "Just think of it as an undercover sting operation. You've been on those, right?"

"Of course I have. But usually I have a full squad of armed police officers nearby in case something goes wrong."

Again with this issue of needing backup when he was standing right next to him. "You have me."

Cloud smirked down at the ground. "Sorry, Leon, but in your condition, that's hardly a comforting thought."

Narrowing his eyes, Squall looked at Cloud until the blonde lifted his chin and met his gaze. "I could still protect you."

Realizing that he was serious, Cloud blinked in surprise before showing Squall a rare smile, strained though it was. "Leon, if it comes down to that, please don't do anything stupid." Squall snorted and was about to reply when a barely audible sound from behind caught his attention. "Besides, I'm not exactly helpless, it's just that it'd be nice to have at least one more guy on our side waiting in the wings somewhere in case something happens."

Slowing his steps, Squall glanced over his shoulder. "…Almasy's on his way, but I don't think he'll be able to get here in time to help us out."

"Why's that?"

"Because we're already being followed."

Cloud's footsteps stopped and together they turned around, the detective's shoulders drawing up as a figure emerged from a doorway. Instantly Squall knew that Zexion had been correct; even though most of it was hidden underneath a black hood, that pink hair was pretty distinctive.

"I see you finally noticed me." The alley had fallen silent, almost as if the world was holding its breath as Marluxia strolled closer, stopping when he was less than twenty feet away. "You don't look too surprised to see me though, so I'm guessing this is all part of some kind of devious trap Zexion concocted." Neither Squall nor Cloud responded, each wearing identical stoic masks to hide any signs of nervousness. Marluxia didn't seem to mind filling the silence for them. "Either way, this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Leon," Squall's gaze sharpened, "you were supposed to be a good big brother and go rescue little Sora. Now, you'll just have to come with me."

"How about you come with us instead?" Pulling his handgun from his jacket, Squall leveled it at Marluxia's chest.

The pink haired man took half a step back then smirked. "How about not?" Drawing his own weapon from inside his long leather coat, Marluxia's smirk spread as Cloud instinctually stepped forward, almost as if to block Squall from any bullets. "Leon, we both know that you're not feeling your best right now. Why should you, after that beating we gave you? I really don't think that you want to start a gunfight with someone healthy enough to be a decent marksman."

"I'll take my chances." Even though he was wounded, Squall had a feeling that he was still a better gunman than Marluxia and was willing to prove it. Before the other criminal had the time to so much as think up a comeback, Squall fired a warning shot over Marluxia's right shoulder, inches from the side of his hood. "That was meant to miss. My hand's still steady, I can see perfectly fine, and the next round that leaves this handgun will be aimed at your chest. So how about coming with us?"

Cloud flinched at his words but Squall kept a straight face as he stared his opponent down. He had been lying about where he would aim the next shot but he was hoping that Marluxia wouldn't figure that out. There was no way that Cloud would let him shoot a man, armed or not, straight in the chest without the other firing a shot first.

Unfortunately Marluxia hadn't stayed alive so long by being stupid. He had caught Cloud's silent protest and was smart enough to know what it meant. For a moment, the three of them watched each other, measuring each other up, then in a flash he spun around and started to run.

Swearing, Squall stopped his finger from squeezing down on the trigger and lurched forward to give chase, but Cloud was faster. With all the focus of a wolf running down his prey, Cloud sprinted after Marluxia, quickly closing the gap between them. It was fairly impressive and Squall was stuck with hobbling after them. He could walk on his leg, but there was no way that he'd be able to run on it.

As Marluxia reached the end of the alleyway it was clear that the man was getting desperate. Still, Squall almost felt his heart stop when the criminal spun around, gun once again raised into the air, straight at Cloud's chest. Lifting his own gun back up, Squall desperately tried to line up a clear shot. "Cloud, get down!"

"I don't think so!" In one fluid motion, Cloud slid to a stop right in front of Marluxia then reached out with one hand and grabbed Marluxia's wrist. The pink-haired man let out a shout and his pistol discharged harmlessly into the side of the building, but Cloud wasn't done yet. Tightening his grip on Marluxia's wrist, Cloud gave a sharp twist and the man's gun clattered to the cobblestone path. Marluxia still looked ready to put up a fight but the detective wasn't going to stand for it. After a quick change in his stance, Cloud used the criminal's momentum against him, flipping Marluxia over his shoulder and sending him flying into the ground.

Finally catching up, Squall just stared as Cloud crouched over of Marluxia, the detective's knee digging into the criminal's back to keep him down as he pinned Marluxia's hands behind his back. "No one's getting shot. And you're coming with us." Flipping his hair out of his face, Cloud's eyes flashed up to Squall. "There's a pair of handcuffs in my back pocket."

"Right." Sliding his handgun back into his leather jacket, Squall did his best to pull the cuffs out without seeming like was groping the blonde. He passed the restraints over and watched as Cloud snapped them around Marluxia's wrist with practiced ease. "Good job, by the way, just now."

Cloud smirked as he stood up, hauling Marluxia up to his feet as well. "Thanks. You're not the only one who's had a little training, you know. Anyway, let's get this guy in before he causes anymore trouble."

Looking over at Marluxia and his furious expression, Squall didn't doubt for a minute that he would cause as much trouble as he could. "Yeah. I'll call in and see what Zex has planned."

Squall kept one eye on Marluxia as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number he now had memorized. It only rang once before someone picked up. "_How did it go?_"

"We got him."

"_Perfect timing._" Squall could hear Zexion smiling over the line and for once almost felt sorry for Marluxia. "_Our help just arrived. I will take the liberty of filling him in on the situation. Meanwhile, please bring our guest to our old headquarters in the Third District. Oh, but do blindfold him first_."

"Sure." Hanging up, Squall turned back to Cloud who was waiting impatiently for news. "We're heading back to your car, then we need to find something to use as a blindfold."

Cloud raised a brow than looked up at Marluxia with a small hum. "I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."

OoOoOo

The ride back to Squall, Zexion, and Riku's old hideout was nearly silent, save for Squall occasionally murmuring a turn for Cloud to take. Halfway there, Squall had realized that this was the first time Cloud was going to learn about their little headquarters and was surprised that Zexion would send them there. Either Zexion trusted Cloud more than he let on, or the schemer was planning to dismantle the base in the near future anyway since he only requested that Marluxia be blindfolded.

They had managed in the end to come up with a makeshift blindfold too. It ended up as wrapping Cloud's tie around Marluxia's head, but it worked. Now the criminal was stowed away in the backseat as Squall and Cloud sat in the front, Cloud driving while Squall kept his peripheral vision locked on their passenger, his pistol out and ready to fire should Marluxia choose to act up.

When they arrived at the hideout, Squall left Cloud staring suspiciously up at the building and hustled Marluxia inside. He was thrown off balance though as he was met in the front room not just by Zexion but by Seifer as well. It was too strange seeing Almasy standing there, leaning back against the table Squall and the others had used to plan their heists.

Seifer, on the other hand, looked as cool as ever, simply giving Squall a nod as he walked in. "A tie, huh?"

"What?"

Almasy straightened up and pointed at Marluxia's face. "You used a tie as a blindfold. That's pretty sad, Leonhart."

Squall heard the front door open and close behind him as Cloud walked in, eyes scanning over all of the walls as if he expected to find blood spatter or dead bodies. "I'd call it resourceful…"

Stepping forward, just barely able to keep the wince of pain out of his voice from the movement, Zexion peered up at their captive's face. "Either way, it does seem to be doing an adequate job."

At the sound of his voice, Marluxia sneered. "I would recognize your voice anywhere, Zexion. I never thought you'd pull something as low-brow as abduction. What are you planning?"

Zexion smiled and the sight sent a chill down Squall's back. "You will find out soon, Marluxia, do not worry. Leon, go ahead and rest for a bit with Detective Strife. I have already explained everything to your friend." Seifer gave Squall a look as Zexion nodded towards him and Squall just rolled his eyes. "We will take it from here."

"Suit yourself." Pushing Marluxia into Seifer's arms, Squall watched as Almasy shoved him into the back room, Zexion closing the door behind them as he slowly followed the SWAT inside. Apparently a broken rib wouldn't even stop Zexion from being a part of whatever was happening.

"Okay, Leon, where the hell are we?"

Squall looked back at Cloud as he took a seat on the ratty old couch pushed up against the wall. "Pretty much what you're thinking it is."

"I was afraid you were going to say that…" Cloud hesitantly took a seat next to Squall, his eyes still searching the room. "And with Marluxia, we brought him back for information, right? Why'd they take him into the back room?"

Squall thought that Cloud already had a pretty good idea why, he was as just taken aback. "To get information out of him, I guess."

"And Seifer agreed to that?"

"Looks like it."

"But, he's with SWAT. Would he really…?"

Squall shrugged. "Probably." If Almasy could get even shaky permission to legally beat the shit out of someone, especially someone he didn't like, Squall knew that Seifer would jump at the chance. "He probably has some frustration to work off."

"Y-yeah…" Cloud's voice faded off as voices rose up through the door from the other room. Shaking his head, Cloud was about to speak again when he was cut off by a loud thud. Squall motioned for him to stay put and they both listened close to the voices which were now definitely loud enough to hear.

It was hard for Squall not to smirk as he heard Marluxia let out a loud curse. "_I think you broke my nose!_"

"_Your nose?_" Squall could almost see the scowl on Almasy's face as he snarled back at the criminal, his tone fierce, "_I'll break a lot more than that if you don't start talking, you pansy-ass freak! I was in charge of SeeD for over two years, how do you think we got information about the enemy, huh? I know how to break people!_"

Cloud looked over at Squall in shock but all of Squall's attention was on the door as Marluxia let out a sort of half-whimper, half-growl, "_Zexion_—"

Zexion's response was quieter, almost nonchalant. "_Do not look to me for help, I am not going to stop him_."

"_Alright, alright! Good god, people call us vicious_…"

The voices lowered back to low murmurs and Squall and Cloud sat in silence and waited. Squall didn't even try to start up conversation, he didn't want to give Cloud anything else to think about right now. Almasy and Zexion didn't keep them waiting long though and a few minutes later emerged from the back room, the door opening just enough for Squall to spot Marluxia sitting back against a wall nursing a black eye before the door slammed shut again.

Seeing him on the couch, Seifer smirked down at Squall as he wiped his hand off on a rag. "That was almost worth driving all the way over here for."

Zexion quirked an amused brow. "Did you really torture your enemies for information?"

"Huh? Oh, that. No, SeeD doesn't do that kind of stuff." Squall nodded in confirmation and Seifer's smirk spread. "He didn't need to know that though."

"Well, you play the role of a psychotic killer very convincingly."

"Comes with the territory." Squall snorted under his breath as Cloud just stared up at Almasy as if seeing him in a new light. "Anyway, got some nice intel for you, Leonhart. That loser folded pretty easily and filled us in on where some guys named Xemnas and Saix were staying. I'm guessing that's what you guys wanted to know?"

Zexion nodded. "Indeed. As expected, when push came to shove Marluxia had little loyalty for his employers. We now have all the information we need to continue on. Marluxia also had the good grace to warn us about Xaldin and two Organization members named Lexaeus and Larxene. He did not appear to know which of those three, if any, would be with the Organization bosses when we drop by to say 'hello', but it is good to have an idea about what we are up against."

Squall could see the gears turning in Zexion's head and apparently Almasy could too. Tossing the rag across the room onto the table, Seifer crossed his arms over his chest. "So, am I done here or what? I still have my boys looking through that damn forest, because we're all going to get the reprimanding of our lives if we come out empty-handed after twenty-four hours of searching."

Checking with Zexion first, Squall frowned up at Seifer. "Actually, we could still use your help. I can't promise it will always be…straight-laced, but the result will be good. Unless you'd rather go back to wandering around the woods, that is."

Almasy's icy blue eyes sharpened and he must have stared at Squall for a solid thirty seconds before lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "Alright, I'm in. After all, if Cloud here's game, so am I. Let's get this shit done."

Clapping his hands together, Zexion sat down at his desk with a grunt of pain then spun around to boot up his computer. "Excellent. Now the real fun begins."


	18. Chapter 18

Wah! This chapter took longer than I thought it would! And I think I may have butchered it a bit…D: Ah well, at least I'm getting something out? The chapters a bit longer too, to make up for some of it. ^^; Big thanks need to go out, as always, to all of you awesomest of dudes who reviewed on the last chapter: RkM4U, ramen-is-my-goddess, FuzzyLion, Becca86, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Mirror and Darkling, Aindel S. Druida, Mischievious Kitsune, Pyro. Ahlex, ChaosGarden, Alpha Kan't Spell, xacilia, YumiStar, nearcreature, r a a i n, Blah, Stellar Eclipse, SlippingSanity, and shrouded-obsession! You guys rock!

Oh, and, warning: this chapter ends in a cliffhanger. Just sayin'…

O

* * *

Chapter 18

* * *

Cloud heaved a weary sigh as he sat hunched over the long table in the main room of Leon and Zexion's hideout between a map of Traverse Town and an empty Styrofoam take-out box. That had been the one time over the past twenty hours that he had left the building, to go out to get some fast food to bring back for the four of them, five of them including Marluxia. Much to Cloud's disgust Leon, Zexion, and Seifer all seemed to agree that it would be better to keep the criminal locked up in the back room, at least until they made their move against the Organization, so that he wouldn't go warn his bosses about what was coming. Cloud agreed with them of course, he had to, but that didn't mean he liked the situation any better.

Loosening his tie, Cloud leaned back in his wooden chair, tossing a weary glance over to Leon sitting to his right. The ex-soldier was completely absorbed into the building schematics he was staring down at and jumped a little as Cloud spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over their group for a while now. "Are we seriously doing this tonight?"

Leon's brows lowered in slight confusion. "Yeah. Why, did you find a problem?"

Problem? Cloud wanted to laugh but he couldn't even muster up a smirk. "Is there anything about this that isn't a problem? We started planning this less than twenty four hours ago and," Cloud checked his wrist watch, "and you want to face the Organization head on at ten tonight, which is in eight hours."

"Yeah."

Cloud's hands fisted on the map he had a hold of at Leon's flat tone. "There's nothing about that that's okay. How are we supposed to get everything prepared by then? We just found out where we're going, we don't know how many people we're going up against, we don't know how we're getting in—we don't even have any weapons except our handguns!" Police Department spent months planning raids like this, and they were trying to do it in less than two days!

By now Seifer and Zexion were listening in. It would've been pretty hard for them not to since all four of them were sitting at the same table. As Cloud's voice trailed off, Seifer gave a curt nod. "He's right you know, there are some pretty serious holes in our plan. The information and gear we have is good, but it's not going to cut it."

Leon shared a quick look with Zexion. "We've done more with less, trust me."

Perhaps noting Cloud and Seifer's unconvinced looks, Zexion elaborated. "This is fairly standard procedure for us. Unfortunately the nature of our work rarely allows us the luxury of time, but you grow used to it after a while. Our short turnaround will also have the benefit of reducing the chance that the Organization will either catch wind of our plans or grow suspicious of our lack of action. We simply must make the most of the time we do have."

Sighing again, Cloud ran his free hand through his hair as his eyes drifted back down to the map held in his other. "That's part of the problem. I've run out of things to do with the little you've given me."

Zexion leaned over across the table with only a small grimace as his aching ribs stretched. "Hm, it would seem that you are correct. Have you detailed the route we will need to take out to the Organization's new building?"

After Seifer had roughed Marluxia up, he had spilled all the information he had about his bosses' location. It turned out that they had been preparing to start up a new base of operations since the one they had in Dark City had been destroyed by Leon and the others two years ago. Apparently they had decided that the outskirts of Traverse Town would be a good pick, which made some sense. With the town's slow economy there would be a lot of poor people desperate for work, meaning a ready supply of new recruits for the Organization, and Traverse Town was an easy day's travel from Twilight Town, Dark City, and all of the other nearby cities where the Organization did their "business".

"I did. I cross-referenced road maps and satellite photos. If Marluxia told the truth, I know exactly where we're going."

Zexion nodded. "Good. Does anyone require help than with their tasks?" Seifer quickly shook his head and Zexion turned to his oldest accomplice at the table, "Leon?"

"Actually, I'm finishing up myself."

"Oh. Well then…" Zexion's voice trailed off as he searched the room as if to find something for Cloud and Leon to do next. It was a little obvious that he wasn't used to having so much help when he was planning out his crimes.

When Cloud saw Zexion's eyes slide down to the empty take-out boxes, Cloud spoke up before Zexion told him to take the trash out. He had better things to be doing right now. "Alright, if you don't have anything better for me to do, I'm going to take a nap." Cloud didn't care how unmanly that sounded. If he was going to take down a vicious crime syndicate, he was wanted to do it on at least three hours of sleep. Standing up, Cloud stretched his arms up over his head. Damn, he was stiff. "You should think about doing the same, Leon. A day and a half ago you were still on bedrest. You've got to be exhausted."

Seifer's icy blue eyes bounced over to Leon and Cloud knew that the SWAT commander agreed with him. Cloud hadn't brought up Leon's health—or lack thereof—all day, but the dark circles under the man's eyes and his ashen complexion had both intensified over the last few hours. To Cloud's relief, it seemed like Leon still had some common sense left because, after a moment, he nodded. "…I could probably use some sleep." Pushing away from the table, Leon looked back into the room. "…If you don't mind sharing, we can probably both fit on the couch."

Usually Cloud would've protested about sharing such a small sleeping place with Leon in public, but honest to god he was just too tired to care. He had been nodding off for the past few hours and wasn't about to volunteer to sleep on the ground. "Sure."

Rolling his eyes, Seifer let out a disapproving snort as Leon stood up and him and Cloud made their way over to the sofa. "Fine, you two get some shut eye, but if I hear anything other than sleeping going on over there—"

Leon didn't even give Seifer the chance to finish his sentence. "You won't."

OoOoOo

Murmuring lightly, Cloud's brow furrowed as he heard the sound of voices talking softly nearby, bringing him out of a thankfully dreamless sleep. Voices…why were there voices? And why did his mattress feel so…weird?

Cloud's eyes snapped open as he snapped awake, instantly waking the person sleeping under him. Jerking back, Cloud would've tumbled right off of the couch he suddenly found himself on if a pair of strong arms hadn't suddenly reached up and kept him steady. Shocked that he hadn't fallen, Cloud finally focused on the person underneath him and he found Leon staring back up at him. Right. Leon. Couch. Staying up all night planning a dubiously-legal raid. It was all coming back.

Slowly letting out a breath of air, Cloud relaxed and in turn Leon relaxed his hold on Cloud's forearms. He and Leon had fallen asleep on the couch with Cloud resting mostly on top of Leon so that they'd both be able to fit. It turned out though that when Cloud tucked his head up against the crook of Leon's neck with half of his body sprawled across the felon they fit on the ratty old couch perfectly.

"Hey, it's about time you two woke up."

Cloud blinked as he realized that he had been staring down at Leon and twisted around from where he sat, practically straddling Leon's waist, to find Seifer standing near the front door, his arms crossed over his chest. Then he realized that there was one person missing. "Where's Zexion?"

Seifer nodded towards the door. "Someone just pulled up. The little guy went to check it out."

Noticing that Leon was trying to sit, Cloud quickly climbed off of the couch to let him up. Shaking out his hair, Leon looked up at Seifer as he swung his legs around to put his feet on the ground. "He went out by himself?"

Seifer shrugged. "He seemed to know the guy. I didn't bother to argue with him."

There was a pause between the three of them before Leon let out a short sigh and stood up. "I'll go see what's up."

Not liking the implications of what could be going on, Cloud followed Leon out, the two of them stepping out just in time to see a car backing up right in front of the building. Zexion was standing right outside the door, a look of irritation written across the part of his face that was visible behind his bangs. When the driver's door swung open, Cloud tensed up behind Leon, but all of his apprehension flowed out of him nearly as quickly when Zexion spoke up. "Demyx! What are you doing here?"

Stepping out of the car, Zexion's carefree boyfriend smiled nervously, completely ignoring Cloud and Leon in favor of trying to placate his obviously annoyed lover. "Um, so, I know you told me not to come and stuff, but I called Xigbar and things just kind of spilled out—"

"_Demyx_…"

Cloud heard Leon sigh to himself and watched as Demyx waved his hands in the air, as if desperately trying to clear Zexion's frustration from the air. "I know, I know! You told me not to tell anyone, I'm sorry! But, after I called, he said he had something for you, so I drove to his house and he put something in the trunk. He said I couldn't look at it but to just give it straight to you."

Zexion's glare fell away as his brows rose his on his forehead. Suddenly Cloud's nerves were back in full force, just for a different reason. Anything that interested Zexion that much couldn't be good. "He did, did he? Well…if it is what I think it is then your mistake is more than forgiven, Demyx. Stay in the driver's seat but open the trunk please."

Demyx looked as relieved as Cloud wish he still felt. "Sure."

Cloud's gaze shifted from Demyx to Zexion to Leon as a second later the trunk popped open, feeling there was definitely something that he was missing. "What's this about?"

"You'll find out."

Reaching out for the trunk, Zexion stopped halfway with a wince on his face. The motion must have strained his injuries too much. There was no way he was going to be healthy enough to do much of anything on their little escapade. "Leon, the trunk."

With a heavy breath, Leon stepped away from Cloud and over to Zexion, almost looking as if he had been hoping to be right next to the detective to wait for his reaction. And as soon as Leon lifted up the trunk hood, Cloud knew why.

There was a small arsenal in the trunk, weapon after illegal weapon lying innocently in half-open duffle bags with boxes of ammunition stacked up next to them. Cloud felt himself turn green as he lifted a hand and pressed it to his forehead. Oh god…It looked like they didn't have that "lack of weapons" problem anymore.

Swallowing thickly, Cloud stood aside as Leon zipped the duffle bag closed and heaved it and the boxes out of the trunk, Zexion speaking to Demyx as Leon carried his delivery inside. "Thank you, Demyx. And thank Xigbar as well for me. The man always comes through for us when we are in a pinch."

Cloud looked on in disbelief as Demyx sent Zexion a bright smile, completely unaware of the contraband that he had just been transporting. "Sure thing. When are you going to be home?"

"I cannot say for certain. Do not wait up. If, something happens and I, run late, I am sure you will get a call."

Getting the sense that their conversation was personal, Cloud forced his feet to walk him back into the building. Going inside just made the whole situation worse though when he found Leon showing off their newest assets to Seifer who looked—of all things—impressed. "Damn, Leonhart, you guys must have some kind of contacts. This is the exact model we used back in the desert."

Seifer and Leon were each holding identical rifle in their hands, their attention completely focused on the guns to the point where Cloud was pretty sure they didn't even notice the sound of Demyx driving away. "Except they're in better condition. Figure these will be better than being stuck with our handguns."

"Hell yes they will." Finally Seifer seemed to notice that Cloud was still standing in the entryway looking shell-shocked. "What's the matter, Strife? Never seen a real gun before?"

Oh, Cloud had seen plenty in his time. Maybe not as many as the two men standing in front of him, but enough to last Cloud a lifetime. The criminals back in Midgar hadn't exactly used peashooters. "Seifer, you know as well as I do that all of those firearms are illegal. Those are fully automatic assault rifles, not toys."

"Obviously." Checking the aim on the rifle on more time, Seifer finally put the thing down onto the table. "But if we're going to do this, we should do it right."

And that's exactly the issue Cloud had with everyone else in the room; their ideas of "right". Ignoring Zexion as the shorter man slipped back inside, Cloud frowned down at the duffle bag full of weapons. "Whatever you two decide, I'm not going to use any of those."

Seifer huffed, "Fine, whatever helps you sleep at night. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"You call that safe?"

"Cloud." Frowning, Cloud turned to find Leon looking straight at him. The man's tone had been disapproving, which didn't improve Cloud's mood. If Leon didn't think that Cloud would argue at all during all of this, he had another thing coming to him.

In fact, Cloud would've kept going if his reply hadn't been cut off by his phone ringing in his pocket. He could feel all three pairs of eyes on the room on him as he spun around, pulled his cell phone out, and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"_Cloud, it's Axel. What's up? You sound angry and I haven't even said anything yet._"

His shoulders slumped a bit as he pressed the phone closer to his ear, lowering his voice to a murmur even though he was sure the others would be able to hear him anyway. "Sorry. It's…been a long day. What'd you call for?"

"_You're in Traverse Town with Leon still, right?_"

"Yeah, why?"

"_Alright. Riku got out of the hospital and I'm on my way over to drop him and Sora off. You took the train in since your car was totaled, didn't you? How about I pick you up?_"

"Ah…I'm not leaving quite yet."

"_Uh? Why not? Now that this whole kidnapping thing settled out, we need to go back to work back in Twilight_."

"Yeah, it's just…" Cloud sighed and put his hand on his hip. "It's a long story, I'll explain when you get here."

"_Must be some story. Are you at Leon's place, or…?_"

"No, somewhere new. Let me give you directions."

It took Cloud less than a minute to tell Axel how to get to Leon and Zexion's hideout, mentally going over the route he had taken himself about a day earlier. After, he hung up on his partner and turned back around only to find that the three pairs of eyes had never left him. Putting on his best blank expression, Cloud stuck his cell phone back into his pocket. "Axel's on his way over."

Zexion raised a brow and Cloud could tell that he was slightly ticked off. "Is he now?"

"Yes, he is. And he's bringing Sora and Riku along. Riku was just released from the hospital." Hopefully that would cheer Zexion and Leon up.

"Excellent, just what we need, another crippled player to enter into the game."

Apparently not. Leon, though, did look a little happier at the thought of being reunited with his brother. And that suited Cloud just fine. He really didn't care if Zexion was happy with the situation or not, but Leon he would prefer to keep on his side for as long as possible. It was better than when the two of them were fighting.

While they waited for Axel and the other to show up, Zexion tersely filled Cloud and Leon in on everything that they had missed while they had been sleeping. He and Seifer and gone over the plan again and when Zexion was done explaining their newest scheme even Cloud had to admit that it was actually starting to sound like it might work. And in the aftermath, he might even be able to convince the Chief that it should be considered legal. By the time Axel finally found the place, Cloud almost had himself believing that the plan might be a good one.

Seifer was the first to notice the sound of a car's engine drawing closer from the street outside. "Strife, I think they're here."

Cloud jumped up from his seat as Zexion let out a small scoff. "It is about time. We have less than an hour before we need to leave."

Ignoring Zexion's complaining—a skill Cloud was quickly developing—the blonde walked over to the front door. Instead of opening it up though, he waited; there was no guarantee that it was Axel who had driven up and, since the building didn't have any windows or any way to check who really was outside, Cloud didn't want to throw the door open for any Organization thugs.

He only had to wait a few seconds for a quick knock to sound out from the other side of the front door, accompanied by a hesitant voice. "_Cloud, you in there? This place gives me the creeps…_"

Yup, that was Axel. Pulling the door open, Cloud stepped aside to let the redhead in, Sora and a beaten-up looking Riku trailing in behind afterwards. "Glad to see you found the place."

"Yeah…" As Cloud closed the door behind them, Axel's green eyes were darting around the room suspiciously. Cloud could relate. "This place is pretty out of the way."

"_Squall!_"

Axel let out a small grunt as Sora pushed past him and ran across the room, straight into Leon's arms. The older brunette quickly wrapped the younger Leonhart in a tight hug and Cloud couldn't help the small smile that spread across his lips. It wasn't often that Leon showed a soft side, but Sora could always bring it out. Thank god the kid was okay.

Sora buried his face against Leon's shoulder. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, Sora, as long as you're alright. It's not your fault."

"But still, I," Sora's face tilted up to look at his brother, his face suddenly all serious and relaxed fear. "I shouldn't have run out of the house like that! I shouldn't have—"

Leon shook his head. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"But I didn't have to get so upset. It's just-" Sora lips drew into a thin line before his thoughts burst out, "I don't want you to replace Dad, Squall! I need you to be my brother!"

Leon's eyes lit up and for a second Cloud thought he was going to argue with Sora. But then something seemed to click and he simply gave a small nod. "Okay."

Cloud was wrenched away from the scene as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Glancing back, his eyes met Axel's and knew that his partner wanted to talk. As Leon and Sora released each other and Riku hobbled over to the couch, Cloud slipped into the far corner with Axel. When they were far enough away to not be overheard, Axel crossed his arms over his chest. "So you wanna tell me what exactly is going on? I haven't been asking that many questions because I trust you, Cloud, but honestly, I'm starting to get worried for you."

Letting out a sigh, Cloud looked back at the others, at Zexion who had walked over to Riku, undoubtedly to explain the plan, and at Seifer who was clearly trying to get over Leon's display of affection for his brother. "It's, complicated. After Sora's kidnapping, they won't run from the Organization anymore." Turning to look back at Axel, Cloud sent him a mirthless smile. "And I can't really blame them."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "So, what exactly does that mean? When I called, you said that you couldn't leave yet. Why not?"

"I'm going to help them."

Axel's tone was harsh, "Do what?"

"Put an end to this. I said I would help."

"Cloud, what the hell are you doing?" Axel's voice had lowered to an angry whisper. "This isn't like you!"

"I know you're confused but—"

"Hell yes I'm confused! I know what their version of 'putting an end to things' looks like! What are you going to do, kill someone? Blow a building up?"

Cloud's brow furrowed. "No, we're going to try for an arrest."

"Of who?"

"…The bosses."

Axel threw his hands up into the air. "The _bosses_? Xemnas, Saix, all them?" Cloud nodded and Axel scoffed. "Cloud, you can't just _arrest _them, especially not on their own turf. They're going to try and kill you!"

"I'll do what has to be done, but this can't go on anymore Ax, we both know that."

Releasing a long breath, Axel stared straight into Cloud's eyes before his shoulders slumped a little. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

"No, you're not."

"But—!"

Cloud shook his head. "I won't let you get involved with this Axel, there's too much at stake for you, especially if this gets out to the public. That's why I called Seifer in." Cloud nodded over his shoulder to the blonde sitting at the long table across the room. Axel's frown deepened and Cloud quickly tried to restate his words. "It's not that I don't think you can do it, Ax, I'd give anything to have you along, but I couldn't live with myself if you got kicked off the force for this."

"So I get left on the sidelines, again, while you go risk your life for a bunch of cons. Great. How am _I_ supposed to live with _myself_ if something happens to you?"

"I guess you'll just have to be stronger than me."

"…You're such an ass."

"Yeah." Cloud tilted his head, "Sorry."

"Just…" Axel exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Just be careful. When is this happening?"

Checking his watch, Cloud felt his breath catch in his throat. Fighting his emotions back down, Cloud looked up and did his best to show Axel nothing but a cool confidence in his gaze. "Right now."

* * *

After spending a few minutes trying to convince Zexion it was the best for everyone, it was agreed that Almasy would drive the van on the way to the Organization's base outside of Traverse Town. It took much less arguing for Squall to convince Axel to keep an eye on Sora while they were away. It turned out that while they were, "at work", Axel was going to stay at their hideout and make sure that Marluxia didn't use their absence as a chance to escape. Squall had his suspicions that the detective was also going to be poking around all of their things while he was at it, but since Zexion didn't seem too concerned, Squall was pretty sure that the redhead wasn't going to find much.

Zexion was riding up in front with Seifer, which meant that Squall was stuck in the back with Cloud, Riku, and all of their equipment. The fact that Cloud was there felt only slightly awkward and for the most part the blonde had been silent, like all the other occupants of the van. Usually Squall would've counted on Riku to fill the silence but right now the hitman wasn't looking his best. Which was an understatement. Riku hadn't told any of them what had happened, but it looked like he had got the crap beaten out of him trying to save Sora. Various parts of his body were wrapped up in bandages and there was a small wad of gauze taped to his forehead as if to stem some bleeding. Just imagining what Riku had gone through…if he hadn't been there, would that have happened to Sora instead? Squall almost felt as if he needed to thank the other man. Almost.

Either way, although Riku had demanded that he be able to go along, he was supposed to wait with Zexion in the van while Squall, Cloud, and Almasy went in to take care of business. He hadn't been very pleased about that, but whatever. Riku really wasn't in a position to argue.

Squall was startled from his thoughts as Riku reached over and grabbed a map of where they were headed from one of the bags of supplies thrown in the back with them. For a moment his aqua eyes scanned over the piece of paper as if looking for a hidden encryption in the satellite photo. "…You sure this information is right?"

Cloud looked up at the question and Squall gave a short nod. "Pretty sure. I don't know why Marluxia would lie."

"'Cause he's a sleazy backstabber?"

Squall frowned. "I think he's done being the Organization's lackey. Why do you have a problem with it?"

"I don't have a problem, it's just…" Riku shook his head and put the map back. "I hadn't heard about the Organization being active near Traverse Town."

"Marluxia said something about them just setting up a new base."

"Huh…I guess I'm falling out of the loop…" The last part was said so quietly that Squall almost didn't hear it, so he didn't comment. It probably wasn't meant for him anyway.

That was their only meaningful conversation, the mood too heavy for Squall to be willing to continue it. Beside him, Cloud was sitting on the floor, squeezed between one of Zexion's computers and a case of ammunition and looking as if he was going to war. In a way, he was, maybe for the first time. Squall wanted to be able to take his hand, to comfort him in some way, but he knew from experience that those were feelings Cloud needed to feel and come to terms with. Otherwise what came next might be too much for him to take.

Because they had already been in Traverse Town, it took far too little time for the van to slow and them to reach their destination. Looking up, Squall met Cloud's eyes as the vehicle came to a full stop and they heard the sound of the driver's side door opening. The noise of boots on gravel passed around to the back of the van and then the back doors were pulled open, Seifer's silhouette visible against the night sky outside. "How was the ride?"

Squall sent him a grim smile as Cloud scooted out. "The same as usual. Does everything look good?"

Almasy glanced off to his right, looking at something that Squall couldn't see. "I don't know if it looks good, but it looks like what we were expecting."

Carefully standing up to make sure that he didn't knock anything of Zexion's over, Squall joined Cloud and Almasy outside and together the three of them gazed up at the building that had already caught Seifer's eyes. They were out in the boondocks of Traverse Town, a deserted remnant of the old industrial age. The Organization had set up shop in one of the empty shells of factories that were dotted across the area, an old brickyard by the looks of it. It was a large, two story building with single-story annexes haphazardly attached to it. It looked confusing, dark, and intimidating, the perfect place for the Organization to set up their operations.

They had parked behind an abandoned, industrial-sized dumpster about a hundred yards away, just like they had planned. Those satellite maps had proven very useful in figuring that part out. From their vantage point now, Squall could make out flickers of light coming from the Organization's building. So someone was in. Good.

Almasy was the first to break the spell as he tore his gaze away to look into the back of the van. "We should get moving before they notice us. Let's suit up."

"Right." Turning around, Squall hauled a duffle bag to the van's bumper and began to pull out their weaponry. Passing a rifle to Almasy, Squall took one out for himself before starting to dig around for ammo. One of the good things about their plan was that for once it didn't require any fancy, high-tech equipment. All they needed was simple, straight-forward firepower.

"Hey Leon, convince Zex to let me come along."

Squall glanced up to find Riku crouching down next to his shoulder. One quick review of the silver-haired man's injuries told Squall exactly what his response needed to be. "I don't think so. You're in no shape to go running in there."

Riku's brows narrowed while behind him Squall could hear Cloud snapping a new clip of ammunition into his handgun. "Like you're one to talk! If it weren't for pain killers, you'd still be lying in bed."

"Thank god for painkillers then."

"Come on, Leon. You know I'm good. You'll need me in there. Those losers can't shoot nearly as well as I can."

Almasy snorted and Squall decided to overlook the comment. He wasn't about to admit that Riku was probably right. "No means no, Riku. You'll have to make do with helping Zexion out here."

"Oh, yeah, because that's just _riveting_."

Squall finally met Riku's eyes with a glare. "This isn't supposed to be fun. Besides, when we start bringing out members of the Organization who we've subdued and arrested, you'll need to be here to keep them under control."

Riku grimaced at the word "arrest". Like Zexion, he hadn't liked that part of their new plan, at all. If Riku had his way, they'd be leaving nothing behind tonight except for pools of blood and lifeless corpses. Which was another reason Squall couldn't let Riku come along. Almasy and Cloud both had such high levels of self-control and Squall would be able to play off of that and control his own actions. If he had gone in with Riku though, all bets would be off and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from matching Riku's body count.

"Alright, enough chatter." Slipping his rifle's shoulder strap over his head, Almasy pulled on a black beanie that covered up his cropped blonde hair, "You're staying, punk, end of story. The rest of us are going to get going. Are you good to go Strife?"

Cloud nodded, his hypnotizing blue gaze more intense than Squall had ever seen it. "Ready."

"Alright. Leonhart, you ready to go?"

Swinging his own rifle on, Squall nodded as he reached past Riku and picked up one last thing: his old headset. He could hear Zexion rustling around in the front seat and knew that the first thing he would do when he finally limped his way to the back of the van was put his own headset on. "Now I am." Slipping the headphones on over his hair, Squall flipped the power switch. It was going to be the only way to keep contact with the outside world after they went in.

Without waiting around to give Riku any more time to protest, Squall turned back to face Seifer and Cloud. "Well?"

Almasy sent back a dangerous smirk. "Just waiting on you, Leon."

Fingering his handgun anxiously, Cloud broke in, his eyes never having strayed away from the Organization's base during their whole exchange. "Let's just get this over with."

"Then let's get moving!"

Squall took a deep breath and let Almasy take the lead as his old commander checked to make sure that the coast was clear before making his way across the empty road. Normally he would've fought harder with Seifer for control of the mission, but knowing how many pain meds were in his system right now Squall wasn't sure that he could completely trust his own judgment. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, Almasy adapted to the role of leader too well when he wanted to.

Though the sun had long ago set, the summer heat lingered in the air as the three of them, Squall, Cloud, and Almasy, crept towards the towering structure in front of them, guns drawn. The concentration rolling off of his two accomplices was incredible; Squall had become so accustom to working these sort of jobs with Riku that he had forgotten how professionals on the other side of the law dealt with things.

When they made it to the side of the building apparently without being detected, things were still going perfectly to plan. Pressing himself against the dirty concrete wall, Squall made sure that Cloud did the same, knowing that Almasy knew exactly how to handle himself.

The next phase of their plan was a simple one: find the front door and use it. From the building schematics Zexion had pulled up from some sort of city records, the entrance to the factory was pretty well separated from the office areas where the bosses were likely to have set themselves up so, while there might be a guard or two on duty, they weren't anticipating any immediate trouble.

"—_Have you made it to the building yet?—_"

Squall jumped a bit, drawing a look from Seifer. Even though he had just put it on, he had almost forgotten that he was wearing the headset. "We're there. About to go in."

"—_Understood. Stay focused—_"

Finishing his whispered conversation, Squall gave Seifer a quick nod. They were clear to move ahead. Nodding back, Almasy began to walk around the building with well-practiced stealth, his back kept pressed against the concrete to avoid being seen from any of the windows above. After making sure that Cloud was copying them, Squall followed closely and the three of them slipped around the side of the building like ghosts.

Squall could feel Cloud's breath on the back of his neck as they rounded the corner and slunk up to the front entrance. Squall was sure that Almasy was getting the same treatment from him as his ex-commander signaled for them to stop. Glancing around to make sure that they hadn't caught anyone's eye yet on the outside, Squall waited as Almasy slipped forward to press his ear against the door. A silent second passed before Seifer flashed a quick signal Squall knew from their time in SeeD. One person, maybe two, inside. They could handle that.

Nodding back, Squall had to hope that Cloud would be able to keep up as Seifer immediately reached for the door handle. Locked—not like that would stop them. Almasy waved for Squall to help and on an unspoken count of three they each landed a powerful kick on the rusted metal door. The dented slab of metal crashed down to the ground and there was no turning back.

As soon as the broken door slammed down onto the floor bullets started to fly, but Squall and Seifer were ready for it. They had each jumped to one side of the doorframe, peering into the building just enough to get a visual lock on whoever was shooting at them from inside. Judging by the number of bullets flying at them, Seifer's initial estimate was probably right; there seemed to be two guards stationed in this entrance area.

Keeping Cloud from moving any closer to the firefight with his body, Squall twisted around the doorframe and took aim at a man he spotted crouched down along the far wall. Because the lights were on inside the building and Squall, Almasy, and Cloud were still standing out in the dark, they had an advantage. The Organization's guards couldn't see them as well as they could see the guards.

Squall knew that Cloud didn't want anyone to end up dead, but in this situation he knew that even the police would feel the necessity to use deadly force. Squeezing the trigger on his rifle, Squall absorbed the recoil into his shoulder as he fired round after round at the guard in his sights until the man let out a shout and doubled over, clutching his right shoulder. Meanwhile, Seifer wasn't hesitating either and quickly fired at an enemy that was out of Squall's line of sight in the far corner. There was a pause, the air left ringing from all the noise, before Squall heard the dull thump of a body hitting the ground.

At the sound, Almasy stepped over the threshold of the building and slipped inside. Now that they had announced their presence there was no time left to linger or second-guess. Following on his heels, Squall and Cloud stepped inside, Cloud immediately going over to the bodies to check for a pulse. The man Squall had shot was still alive and didn't look like he was in any immediate danger of dying so Cloud quickly pulled a zip-tie out of his pocket and used it as a make-shift handcuff, latching the semi-conscious guard to a pipe as he sat slumped up against the wall. After he was secure Cloud crouched down and searched the man's pockets for weapons or communication devices as Squall and Almasy did a quick sweep of the area.

Working as a pair, they quickly swept out the right side of the room before moving off clockwise. There were doors on every wall, some locked, some not, and it was driving Squall up the wall. At any moment, any one of the doors could open up and—

"_Leonhart_, get down!"

Acting on instinct, Squall dropped into a crouch at Seifer's order, moving just in time to avoid a spray of ammunition from an automatic weapon across the hall through a door that had just been thrown open. Almasy had ducked down beside him, each trying to make themselves as small as possible, neither of them able to raise their guns in defense. Just when Squall was expecting to feel a bullet biting into his skin, he heard someone returning fire.

Cloud!

Squall's head snapped up just in time to see Cloud fire off one more round before the detective hurried forward. It almost looked like he was on some sort of suicide run until Squall realized that Cloud was moving in to get a decent shot. He had to remember that not everyone had Riku's sharp-shooting skills. But still, the fact that Cloud was running straight into danger didn't suit well with him. "Cloud, don't—!"

He was silenced as he heard Cloud's gun discharge once, twice, and then breathed a sigh of relief as the room fell back into an eerie silence. As Squall and Seifer relaxed from their fetal positions, Cloud walked back into the main entrance hall with a frown on his face. "It looked like that third guy was tucked into some sort of guard station. There were cameras and everything. I'm sure he's already sounded some sort of alarm, so we had better move fast."

Pushing himself up, Squall had to wait a moment for his vision to stop swimming in front of his eyes before he stumbled forward, meeting Cloud in the center of the hall as the blonde loaded a fresh clip into his pistol. "Are you alright, Cloud?"

Blinking back at Almasy than up to meet Squall's gaze, Cloud's blue eyes flashed. "Don't treat me of any less as a partner just because I haven't been in the military. I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to join you. Besides, it's you I'm worried about. Did either of you get hit?"

Seifer brushed himself off as he stood. "I'm good. That punk had shitty aim. But Strife's right, Leon. You looked a little wobbly there."

Squall's answer was immediate. "I'm fine." The truth was he was definitely starting to feel the fatigue and the old wounds that he was trying to convince himself he had healed from, but he wasn't about to advertise that. "Cloud was also right when he said we need to keep going."

"—_We heard more shots over the line. Is there a problem_?—"

Swearing as he jumped about a foot, Squall reached up and pressed a finger to his headpiece. Right, Zexion and Riku were listening and now apparently they thought something was wrong too. "Just some unexpected company. We've taken care of it."

"—_Good. You should be in a small main hall. To get to_ _where Marluxia said Xemnas and the others are waiting, you will need to pass through the main factory. There should be a door leading into it along the far back wall of the entrance hall—_"

Scanning the back wall, Squall spotted the door Zexion was talking about and directed Cloud and Seifer's eyes to it with a nod. "Found it."

"—_In the meantime Riku and I will keep an eye on the perimeter and watch for anyone trying to escape, namely our targets. Ever since you entered, we have been seeing a lot more motion farther inside the building, so I think that it is safe to assume that you will have some more company very soon—_"

"We'll be ready for them."

Despite Squall's dead certain tone, a million different thoughts were swarming his mind as Almasy once again took the lead and moved towards the door Squall had indicated. Perhaps above everything else, the thing that made this job stranger and more tense than anything else was the fact that he could feel Cloud hovering right behind him. More than being stressed out by having a lawman watching his every move, Squall couldn't get over the fact that someone he cared about was in this mess with him. Sure, he cared about Almasy too but since the beginning of their relationship it seemed right for _them_ to go through this sort of thing together, but, not Cloud. He had never been so conscious of the safety of an accomplice before, and it was more distracting than the pain throbbing in his muscles. It didn't matter what Cloud said, or what he wanted, Squall would never be able to treat him the same way as he did Seifer, and definitely not Riku. It just wasn't going to happen.

Almasy's voice, sharp with concentration, snapped Squall back to reality. "Get ready, here comes round two!"

With that one warning, Seifer pushed the door open, this time not even bothering to check how many people might be lurking behind it. It didn't matter; the plan was going to be the same either way.

Much like they did at the front door, Squall and Seifer each automatically threw themselves to each side of the doorway and began to fire into the next room as bullets began to hail down upon them. Too busy to look down, Squall felt Cloud crouch down low, the cop's elbow brushing against Squall's knee as he joined in.

This time they had no advantage over the enemy. As Zexion had promised, the door Almasy had kicked open revealed the main factory room. Two, maybe three stories tall, the empty shell, it looked like the Organization was just moving into it. There were large crates, boxes, and metal sheeting pushed up against the crumbling walls and the sharp smell of industrial cleaners burned at Squall's nose. Tucked away behind the many boxes, the Organization thugs in this room were harder to hit. It was impossible to even tell where they were all hiding!

Firing back as best he could, Squall tried to trace the bullets back to their origin to find a target. It was hard to focus on just one small area of the huge space beyond the door with bullets whistling towards him, the air filled with the sound gunshots, but the effort paid off. Spotting a figure squatting down about halfway across the factory floor, Squall took aim and fired. One down, an unknown number left to go.

Though he had just made a hit, a quick scan told Squall that they would need to actually get into the room if they wanted to make any sort of progress. Seifer seemed to think the same and again led the charge, bursting into the main part of the factory with a barrage of gunfire. Having anticipated the move, Squall was only a half-second behind him, squeezing down on the trigger of his rifle if for nothing else than to create a distraction as he mentally mapped out the new space.

Anyone else would have been completely overwhelmed by the situation, of not knowing who—or even how many—were shooting at you, but Cloud took it in stride, literally, as he ran after them. Wincing as he felt a bullet graze his forearm, Squall nevertheless repositioned himself to shield Cloud from the brunt of the attack. The three of them fired round after round at the Organization guards who had swarmed into the room. The thugs had clearly been caught off guard by their brazen step forward and now, with their major advantage blown, they were starting to retreat to safer positions. When they drew back though, they didn't fire their weapons, giving Squall, Almasy, and Cloud the chance that they needed to advance even further into the room.

The adrenaline coursing through his veins let Squall ignore not only his fatigue but also the flesh wounds he had just gotten from bullets scraping across his skin. He could tell that the tide of the gunfight was turning in their favor and he was going to make sure they kept their lead. By now they had incapacitated a good number of the Organization members in the room and so Squall took a risk and broke away to mop up. He heard Cloud protest but then out of the corner of his eye saw Seifer move off to do the same. Hopefully Cloud would be alright by himself for a few seconds.

Running across the cavernous room, Squall stopped short as a bullet whizzed passed his nose. Stumbling back just in time to avoid another embedding itself in his temple, he turned to look for whoever was gunning for him and his grey eyes immediately locked onto a lackey dressed in black, crouched down between two large crates. Sitting in the shadows, he had been nearly invisible. The man's eyes widened as he was spotted but Squall didn't give him the chance to do anything else. Firing a single bullet, Squall hit the thug's handgun and it flew from his hand, clattering to the broken concrete floor a couple of yards away. Every instinct was telling Squall to take one more shot at the unarmed man, to completely eliminate the threat, but…something in him wouldn't let his finger pull the trigger back. He couldn't be that person anymore.

Letting out a low breath, Squall never looked away from the Organization flunky as he called back over his shoulder. "Cloud, I have one that needs to be restrained."

"I'll be right over!"

It was only then, as he heard Cloud's voice echo across the hall, did Squall realize that the gun shots had ceased. Taking another breath, Squall lowered his rifle, no longer afraid that the Organization member he was staring down would try to cause trouble. With all of his comrades out of commission there would be no reason to put up a fight, unless he was suicidal. "Almasy…Did you clear the room?"

Seifer answered back from the other side of the factory floor. "All clear! Looks like we got 'em all, though we shouldn't stick around to wait for more of them to show up!"

"Yeah." Hearing footsteps coming up from behind him, Squall stepped aside to let Cloud brush by him, more zip-ties in the officer's hand.

Cloud's blue eyes locked onto the flunky. "Turn over, onto your stomach with your hands behind your back." The Organization member hesitated and Cloud frowned. "I would suggest cooperating. You're lucky my partner has good self-control or else you'd already have a bullet in your skull."

Something in Squall's chest sparked; Cloud had called him his "partner". That was the first time that Cloud had actually, willingly put them on the same side. It felt good.

Stepping back to let Cloud take care of cuffing the thug, who had apparently decided that it wouldn't be worth it to put up a fight, Squall let his eyes skim over the rest of the room. There were splatters of blood here and there, some of which were pooled around Organization guards who had clearly not made it through the fight. Squall was surprised to see that for the most part, however, it looked like the majority of their enemy had survived by sustaining non-mortal wounds. Cloud had already restrained a good deal of them, and Seifer was on the other side of the room watching a small group who still needed to be tied up. Funny…it was hard to focus on Almasy, almost as if Squall was looking at him through a wall of water…

Wobbling to the side, Squall swore under his breath. It wasn't just Almasy, the whole world was swimming. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, all the health problems that had been building up all night were flooding back into his body in full-force. Swearing again as his vision started to go black, Squall stumbled over to a wall as the ground seemed to tilt and roll under his feet.

"—_on!_"

Squall clutched his free hand to his forehead as he slid down the wall to the floor. He could feel sweat beading up on his forehead. Dammit, he had to pull himself together.

"_Leon!_"

Jumping as a hand landed on his shoulder, Squall forced his eyes open and found himself staring right into Cloud's concerned face. The detective kneeled down next to him, his hand tightening on Squall's shoulder. "Leon, are you alright?"

"Just…" Squall swallowed, "just, give me a second…" The feelings would pass. He would make them pass.

Frowning, Cloud called back over his shoulder. "Seifer? Get over here."

Squall lost track of time and what seemed like the blink of an eye Cloud had been replaced by Almasy, making Squall's head spin. "Leonhart, focus on me, alright? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Grimacing, Squall looked around for Seifer's hand. To count fingers, he needed to find his hand first. "…Six…?"

Seifer put down the three fingers he had been holding up with a frown. "Well, at least you can still see something. Come on, Leonhart, get back on your feet. Strife, get him another pill for the pain."

"I don't think so." Squall heard Cloud's voice drifting over from somewhere. "He's already way over the limit."

Almasy tisked, a drop of blood rolling down his jaw line from a small wound on his cheekbone. "You'll just have to suck it up then, Leonhart. Come on." Squall started as Seifer gave each of his cheeks a rough slap. It made his headache explode but it did stop some of the spinning. "There we go. Keep your eyes open, we're moving."

Cloud protested from across the room, "But—!"

"Stop coddling him, Strife, we don't have the time. He'll be fine, just needs a kick in the ass to get moving."

Seeing another hand in front of his face, Squall grasped a hold of it and let Almasy haul him to his feet. Squall managed to stay upright after only one stumbling step to the side. Seifer was right. They couldn't afford to have him passing out. Squall had to keep going. It was just a problem of mind over matter.

"Strife, come over and give him a hand. You two stake out our next move while I finish tying up these losers."

"Sure." Squall watched with a wary eye as Cloud hurried back over to where he was standing and took a hold of his arm. Noting his expression, Cloud shook his head. "Knock it off, Leon. You can worry about your pride after all this is over."

Squall released a low growl but let Cloud pull his arm over his shoulder. They had work to do and, as much as he hated it, he wasn't quite ready to walk on his own. A small, dry smile flashed across Cloud's lips. "Thank you. Now, where do we go from here?"

Scanning the large room, Squall's eyes narrowed. There were fewer doors in this room than the first they had been in, but his mind was refusing to recall the building schematics he had tried to memorize a few hours earlier. "I'm not sure. Zexion, are you still listening in?"

"—_Of course. Has the drama passed?—_"

Squall assumed that Zexion was referring to him collapsing. "Shut up." He was clearly not at his best tonight; Zexion didn't have to rub it in. At least Riku hadn't gotten control of the microphone yet. "We've subdued all the Organization guards on the main factory floor. Where do we go from here?"

"—_I thought you had this memorized? But very well, let me see…from there, you will want to head to the far left of the room. There should be a pair of double doors. Those open to a hallway and at the end of that hall are another pair of double doors which will take you into the administration area of the factory. That is where Xemnas and the others should be—_"

Waiting for Zexion to finish his instructions, Squall glanced down at Cloud. "We'll need to head over to those double doors."

Nodding, Cloud began to move them in that direction. "Can we open them up, or should we wait for Seifer?"

"They should just lead to a hallway, so it should be relatively safe to open the doors up. If anyone had been in there, they would've come out to help the others. Also, if we get the doors open we'll be able to watch for any reinforcements coming in while Seifer finishes up."

With every step they took, Squall was feeling more and more balanced and less and less inclined to use Cloud as a crutch. He definitely had to shape up; if he couldn't even walk on his own, he'd be more of a hindrance to their mission than a help. Glancing down at Cloud, Squall gave his arm a tug. "I'm fine, you can let go."

Cloud looked less than convinced. By now they had almost reached the pair of double doors and Squall was certain that the blonde would carry him through the entire building if Squall let him. "Are you sure?"

Squall gave a firm nod and Cloud finally relented and released his arm. "I'm fine."

Reaching for the door handle, Cloud paused and gave Squall an intent stare, as if waiting for him to topple back to the ground. After a second passed and Squall determinedly remained standing, Cloud shrugged and stepped forward to grab one of the door handles. "Okay, but if you fall over I'm not going to help you back u—"

Cloud's words caught in his throat as he opened the door and there, standing in the hall, was a giant of a man. Squall knew he had seen him before—Lexaeus? Was that Lexaeus?—but what made his heart stop cold in his chest wasn't the man, it was the shotgun in the man's large hands, loaded and aimed straight at the door. But, why? He should've come out when they were fighting earlier—wait. He had been waiting for them! It was been a trap!

All of these thoughts had hit Squall like a wall of bricks in a millisecond, but even so his reaction was too slow to stop what was coming. "_Cloud_, get dow—!"

Cloud had already started to throw himself back, but it wasn't fast enough and in what seemed like a single, hellish moment a loud explosion split the air and the next thing Squall knew Cloud was flying back, having taken all the buckshot straight in the chest.


	19. Chapter 19

Whoo, look at me and my bad self, gettin' a chapter out in a week and a day! XD Okay, so maybe I'm a little too impressed with myself, but I'm excited. This next chapter is all action and it managed to write itself a little faster than the others. Just like all of my other action-y chapters, I'm never quite sure how they'll come out though. ^^; But we're building up to the climax of the story! That means that it's almost over! D: Oh noes, it feels like I just started it...

Anyway, huge, big thanks to go out to everyone who was kind enough to review the last chapter: fluidsxcore, Mirror and Darkling, Dragi, Stellar Eclipse, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, nearcreature, greenbean1, TruancyCity, Becca86, BRP, ChaosGarden, Aindel S. Druida, Oreo, Alpha Kan't Spell, Pyro. Ahlex, ramen-is-my-goddess, r a a i n, xacilia, MeykoLove, and SlippingSanity! You dudes rock! ^_^

O

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Chapter 19

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In an instant Squall was at Cloud's side, ignoring Lexaeus completely. Only one thought was left in Squall's mind: Cloud had just been shot. Dropping down next to where Cloud's unconscious form was sprawled on his back on the concrete floor, Squall leaned over him, eyes wide with fear. "Cloud! _Cloud!_" Cloud was still and dread settled into Squall's stomach. Reaching down, he ran his hand down the side of Cloud's cheek. "Cloud…No. You can't—you can't be—"

Though his shouts had failed to bring out any sort of reaction, Squall's touch seemed to bring Cloud back and the blonde let out an almost inaudible moan. Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Squall ran his thumb across Cloud's cheekbone. "Cloud! Thank god."

"Hn…Leon? What—?" The rest of Cloud's question was cut off as the detective's chest heaved and he began to cough and gasp for breath, his body shaking from the force of it.

"Easy! Easy, Cloud! Take it easy, you're going to be okay."

Eyes watering, Cloud tried to get some words out between gasps for air. "I…I know! I…I'm wearing…I'm wearing a vest!"

Hope flared up in Squall's heart and his eyes flew down to Cloud's chest. He could see bullet holes going through the detective's dress shirt but, as he tore at the buttons to get a better look at what was underneath, Squall's eyes shut and he silently thanked whoever was watching out for them. Underneath his shirt and tie, Cloud was wearing a bulletproof vest. All the buckshot that had just been fired at him was now lodged in the thick black material, stopped inches away from tearing up Cloud's vital organs.

Groaning, Cloud lifted his head up. "…Damn it, I feel like I…like I got hit by a bus!"

Even though the vest stopped the shot from penetrating through Cloud's skin, they still would've hit at the same speed. Anything strong enough to knock Cloud off his feet and send him flying undoubtedly was going to sting for a while.

Moving back to help Cloud sit up a bit more, Squall shook his head. "Like I said, take it easy. Just work on getting your breath back and—"

"_Leonhart!_"

Almasy's harsh cry snapped Squall back to attention and he looked up to find Lexaeus just finish loading another shell into his gun and lifting the barrel up to take another shot. Knowing that there was no way that he'd be able to get Cloud out of the way in time, Squall did the only thing he could think of: he threw himself over Cloud to block him from the attack. Cloud's eyes widened beneath him as he realized what was happening but before he could do anything to push Squall away, Lexaeus pulled the trigger.

In that split second, a sudden weight landed on Squall's back and just as he heard Lexaeus's shotgun discharge he heard the sound of metal slamming on concrete. The noise was followed nearly instantaneously by a sharp ringing as the buckshot ricocheted off of metal and Squall looked up to see what had happened.

Seifer was crouched down right behind him, half of his body actually on top of Squall's for support. In one hand, Seifer was holding his rifle, the butt of the gun digging into Squall's shoulders, and in the other he was holding up a sheet of scrap metal in front of all three of them. It had acted as a shield, the backside covered with dimples from where the buckshot had bounced off of it. With the added weight, Squall was pressing down on Cloud, probably making it even harder for the detective to breathe, but at least they were both still alive.

Squall could feel Almasy's heart beating in the SWAT's chest just as easily as he could feel Cloud's heart hammering away underneath him. He could almost feel the rage radiating off of his former commander too. "You stupid son of a bitch, don't just stay there and wait to get shot!"

"But, Cloud-!"

"_That's not how you're supposed to handle it_! This is!" Throwing his make-shift shield to the side now that Lexaeus was busy reloading, Seifer pushed off of Squall's back and surged forward. In an instant, Almasy's rifle was in position and he shot off a quick succession of rounds through the open doorway. With Lexaeus stuck in the corridor, it was impossible for Seifer to miss and, just like Cloud moments ago, there was no way for the giant to react fast enough to escape.

The huge man let out a rough grunt of pain as bullets dug into his leg. But even as blood began to run down his black boot and puddle around his foot, he kept loading the shotgun with another round of ammunition. When Squall saw that Lexaeus wasn't collapsing in pain he finally did what he should've done from the start. Bending down, he scooped Cloud up and ran for cover, Seifer right behind him as they heard Lexaeus working the action on his gun, readying another shot.

They dove down behind one of the large crates on the other side of the hall just in time to avoid getting filled full of buckshot, splinters of wood shattering around them. After gently setting Cloud against the wall to finish catching his breath, Squall spun around to take up a crouching position next to Almasy, the two facing the open hallway. Squall could feel his heartbeat slamming in his chest as he and Seifer peeked around the edge of the crate just enough to see Lexaeus calmly walking towards them, leaving a single trail of bloody footprints behind as he emerged from the corridor and came onto the main factory floor. They only had a few seconds before he finished reloading and fired again.

"Alright, Leonhart, let's do this."

Lifting the butt of his rifle to rest on his shoulder, Squall lined up his eye with the sight on the gun. "Remember, shoot to incapacitate, not kill."

"Understood."

Knowing that now was as good a chance as he'd ever get, Squall took his shot as Lexaeus slipped yet another shotgun shell into the gun's chamber, now almost halfway across the floor. Almasy apparently felt the same and before the giant could take one more step they both pulled their triggers and twin shots rang out and flew into their target. Seifer's bullet grazed Lexaeus's forearm but Squall's landed solidly in the Organization member's shoulder. As he let out another grunt of pain, the force of the impact caused him to take a step back but if Squall hadn't been able to see blood starting to blossom up around the wound, he would've thought by Lexaeus's reaction that he had missed too.

Seifer swore under his breath and they both ducked back down as another round of buckshot was fired at their heads. "Shit, this guy's a tank!"

Swallowing, Squall glanced back and met Cloud's eyes. They couldn't let this stop them; they still had so far left to go. Determination revived, Squall turned back around to face Almasy. "We can't let him get any closer!" Any closer and it wouldn't matter how badly Lexaeus aimed—with that shotgun and the way that the ammunition fanned out, all three of them would get hit by stray shot.

Almasy scowled, nodded, and the two of them raised themselves just enough above the crate to take another shot. Without even speaking, Squall and Seifer already knew what needed to be done and this time both of their bullets met their marks. Seifer's flew straight into the stock of Lexaeus's shotgun as he was reloading, sending the firearm flying from his grasp, and Squall's shot landed right in the center of the giant's right arm, a few inches below his elbow. No matter how much strength the man still had in him, now there was no way that he would be able to hold a gun.

With their opponent disarmed, Squall rose fully to his feet though his rifle was still trained on Lexaeus. "Get on the ground!"

He felt Almasy stand up next to him but Lexaeus didn't move, almost as if he had been turned to stone, the man's face a stoic mask. Seifer growled, "_On the ground_! You've been disarmed! Surrender or we _will_ kill you!"

"…You were too much trouble."

Frowning, Squall cautiously stepped out from behind the crate, Almasy following him out as they approached. Squall had seen Lexaeus's type before; they didn't give themselves up to their enemy easily. He heard Cloud let out a soft noise of disapproval behind them but ignored it, focusing everything he had on the man in front of them. Shot in three places, blood flowing from all three bullet wounds, the man was still standing as straight as ever as if he didn't even acknowledge the pain. Squall had to wonder if Lexaeus had ever been a soldier like them before he had joined the Organization.

As they drew closer, Squall moved slightly to the right while Seifer moved off to the left so that by the time they reached him they were each on either side of their opponent, their rifles still pointed at Lexaeus's chest to show they meant business. Shoulder's tensing, Squall gave Lexaeus one more chance. "This is your last warning! Get down on the ground or we will shoot!"

"Do what you will."

"Why you…! Just give up!" Seifer scowled and took one more step forward. It was the wrong move to make. Lexaeus wasn't ready to yield and just because he was wounded and unarmed didn't mean he couldn't do any damage. As soon as Almasy moved close enough, Lexaeus reached out with extraordinary speed for someone so tall and grabbed Seifer by the collar of his jacket. For a second Squall could only watch in shock as the giant lifted Almasy up like he was a small child, Seifer's eyes just as wide as his boots left the concrete floor and they both knew he was in trouble. "Oh fu—!"

Squall lurched forward as Lexaeus suddenly shifted his weight and threw Almasy to the ground, cutting the SWAT's curse off as all the air was knocked from his lungs. Seeing Lexaeus bring his fist back, Squall acted fast, guessing how devastating a punch from the man would be. With a quick jerk Squall pulled his rifle up and slammed the butt of the gun down on the back of Lexaeus's head, the blow finally bringing the giant down as Lexaeus was knocked unconscious.

Just narrowly avoiding being crushed as the man crumpled to the ground, Almasy quickly rolled back onto his feet and pulled in a shaky breath of air. "Well…that went…badly."

Letting a breath rush past his lips, Squall just shook his head. The real problem was that Lexaeus was the first of many. If they had this much trouble with him, it was hard to be optimistic about how the rest of the night would go.

"That's putting it lightly."

At the sound of the voice, Squall glanced back to find Cloud heading toward them. "You shouldn't be walking around yet."

Frowning, the detective rubbed lightly at his chest. "I've got my breath back and it doesn't feel like I've broken any ribs, so I'll be fine. I got up when I saw Seifer get thrown down," Almasy snorted, "but you handled it before I could even take three steps." Kneeling down beside the unconscious Lexaeus, Cloud pulled his only pair of metal handcuffs from his pocket instead of one of the zip-ties. "After seeing all that, I wouldn't be surprised if he just snapped the zip-tie. We're going to have to find somewhere secure to hook him too until we get the chance to come back for him."

"Right."

In the end, they settled on cuffing Lexaeus to one of the large pieces of scrap metal. Like the smaller one Seifer had saved their lives with, the one they attached Lexaeus to was leaning up against the wall of the factory. There was still a slight chance that the giant of a man would be able to move the slab of metal but even if he managed to drag himself around, the piece of metal he was cuffed to would never fit through any of the doorways so they wouldn't have to worry about running into him again later on in the night.

Once they had finished with the formidable task of dragging Lexaeus over to the wall and securing him, Seifer stood back up with a scowl. Squall knew that something was bothering his old commander and he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Back there, when you and Strife were getting shot at—Gods, Leonhart…When'd you get to be such a dumb-ass?"

Now that the danger was over, Squall could look back and knew that he had done the wrong thing. Probably the worst thing he could've done really. Squall wished that he could blame it on the pain meds but…as soon as Lexaeus had shot Cloud, all the training that had ever been drilled into his head just evaporated into panic. The only other person that had ever made him act like that was Sora. Blinking, Squall realized just how much he cared about the detective. He'd have to watch himself from now on until this mission was over; he couldn't risk messing anything else up again by letting his emotions take over.

Knowing that Almasy was still waiting for a reply, Squall decided to change the subject. It would be best just to let Seifer go on thinking that it was due to the medication he was on. If Almasy knew the truth, he'd never let Squall live it down. "It won't happen again. Let's just keep moving."

Seifer narrowed his eyes and Squall knew that he'd be hearing about this later, but for now Almasy seemed willing to let the topic drop in favor of completing the mission. Perhaps sensing that whatever tension that was between them had passed for now, Cloud moved to stand beside Squall. "So, we're heading back through that hall still?"

"Yeah. Zexion said that Xemnas and the others should be back there."

"Great." Rolling his shoulders, Almasy stepped forward and they moved as a group over to the hallway where Lexaeus had ambushed them earlier. As they got closer, Squall couldn't help but keep Cloud behind him. If he wanted to keep his promise to Seifer about not loosing his common sense again, he had to make sure that Cloud didn't get attacked like that again.

Cloud didn't seem to like that idea very much though. Seeing what Squall was doing, Cloud shouldered past him with a warning frown and walked next to Seifer as the SWAT pushed open the door to the hallway, rifle at the ready. This time, the short corridor was empty, save for the small puddle of blood on the ground from where Seifer had shot Lexaeus in the leg.

As they walked through, Almasy eyed the door at the end of the hall warily. "So who exactly is still supposed to be waiting for us on the other side?"

Squall frowned and brought his rifle up into a ready position. "From what I heard, Xemnas, Saix, and Xaldin. Those are the big names left."

Cloud had tensed up when Squall had said Xaldin's name and Seifer had caught it. "What is it, Strife?"

When he answered back, Cloud's voice was tight. "Dilan—Xaldin, used to be the Head Detective in Twilight Town. He was my supervisor for about two years."

Letting out a small noise of understanding, Seifer glanced back as he reached the end of the hall and put his hand on the doorknob. "So what kind of guy is he? Someone we need to worry about?"

There was a moment of hesitation before Cloud nodded, his grip tightening on his handgun. "He's…vicious. He'll find your weakness and play off it. So, yeah. Watch out for him."

Squall's face softened at Cloud's tone of voice but right now there was nothing he could do to comfort the other man. Almasy just nodded as Cloud finished, absorbing the information before his hand tightened on the door handle and he pushed it open.

No one was waiting for them this time and they were met with the sight of a dark, closed-in room. Like the entry hall, there were a number of doors pressed into each of the other three walls, dark peeling paint and cracked tile flooring creating an eerie feeling that permeated down into Squall's bones. It felt like there were hundreds of eyes on them, the silence stifling after the firefights they had just survived.

The three of them stood crowded in the doorway, taking in the scene, until Almasy glanced back, his icy blue eyes narrowed and his voice lowered to a whisper. "Leonhart, find out which way we should go."

With a nod, Squall reached up and pressed a hand against his headset, keeping his voice just as quiet. "Zexion, Riku…We just entered into the administration area of the factory. Which door do we go through?"

There was a pause before Zexion answered back, as if he had been tracing out their route on the building's blueprints. "—_At this point, I cannot be entirely sure as a number of the doors will lead to rooms that Xemnas and the others could be using as their main control room. However, there is one room in particular which holds some promise. It is accessible via the third door on your right. The door will lead to one room, probably at one point some sort of secretarial office, and then lead back further into a large, executive type office suite. That is where I believe you will find Xemnas_—"

"Understood." Taking his hand off the headset, Squall quickly found the door Zexion had been talking about and motioned toward it, subconsciously flashing a sign he had used back in SeeD to mean that the mission objective was up ahead. Almasy understood with the same subconscious effort and immediately moved forward with professional efficiency. Whether or not Cloud understood the exact meaning behind the gesture, he certainly got the gist and readily followed, just as anxious to get this over with.

But Squall should have known better than to ignore his instincts and the feeling of being watched. As soon as they stepped into the center of the room, the door they had just came through that led back to the main factory floor slammed shut, sending the room into pitch blackness. Swearing, Squall spun around and wrapped a protective arm around Cloud's shoulders as Seifer let out a stream of curses. He heard the sound of rustling fabric and a few seconds later Almasy, ever prepared, pulled a small flashlight out of some pocket and turned it on.

The small beam of light darted around as Seifer searched the room but it was just as empty as when they had stepped into it. As the SWAT shone the flashlight on the door that had just closed behind them though, Squall realized what had happened. There was an electronic device attached to the top corner of the door that must have been activated remotely and closed the door behind them. A sinking feeling crept into Squall's chest as his grip loosened on Cloud. "Who wants to bet the door's locked?"

"What?" Running back over, Seifer tried the door and, sure enough, it was stuck tight. "God damn it!"

Pulling himself from Squall's arms, Cloud walked over to the door they had been planning on walking through to try the handle. "This one's locked too."

Squall's grip tightened again on his rifle. "I'm guessing that all the doors are locked."

Cursing again, Almasy kicked at the door leading back into the factory. It didn't budge. "What the hell is wrong with these people?"

"_When you're as powerful as the Organization, you do tend to develop a flair for the dramatic, especially when you're…entertaining your special guests_."

Squall's head jerked up as a voice echoed out around the room. It didn't sound like whoever was talking was in the room with them, more like the voice was coming through over a P.A. system. A soft hissing noise had started up too and Squall couldn't tell if it was just static from the old sound system or his imagination playing tricks on him. Either way, it seemed like the owner of the voice had managed to hear what Almasy had said so there was probably a microphone hidden somewhere in the room too.

He was about to respond when Cloud beat him to it as he shouted up at the ceiling, the deep frown on his face just visible in the low light. "Is that you, Fisher?"

"_Good to hear from you again, Detective Strife, particularly after that, close call, you just experienced. You had me worried, Cloud. I was afraid you'd given up for good_."

Squall moved closer to Cloud as the blonde's eyes narrowed. "What, too good to show your face? Is this your way of welcoming us?"

Xaldin let out a low laugh that sent a chill down Squall's spine. "_Hm, yes. A welcome indeed._"

The Organization under-boss's tone had Squall worried but a second later he suddenly had something else to worry about as another bout of dizziness snuck up on him. Stifling a groan, Squall stumbled back against the wall as his free hand went up to grip at his forehead. Not again. He had thought he had gotten over it!

"…Shit, Leon, I think I caught whatever you had …"

Almasy's low murmur caused Squall's head to snap up and he through the near darkness he saw Seifer clutching at his head. "Ugh…I feel like I'm gonna vomit…"

Eyes widening, Squall looked over and watched as Cloud grimaced then doubled over until his vision swam once more and nearly knocked him off his feet. "What, what the hell's going on?"

A few steps away, Cloud lifted his face and glared up at the ceiling again. "Xaldin, I know you're behind this…! What are you doing to us?"

Another dark chuckle filled the room. "_Very good, Strife. You always were such a good little detective. For the sake of our past friendship, I'll tell you. It's a little something called carbon monoxide_." Squall let out a small grunt of alarm as he slipped down the wall. "_Invisible, odorless, tasteless, and completely toxic in its pure form. It's been pumping into the room for a few minutes now. In another few you'll be dead._"

From across the small room, Almasy let out a low moan and fell to his knees and Xaldin continued, "_Fascinating, isn't it. I've made the air itself into a weapon. Let's see how long you can hold your breath_."

Squall's fingers clutched into fists before slackening and he shakily inhaled another breath of the poison. He knew Xaldin wasn't lying. Depending on the amount of carbon monoxide getting pumped into the room, it wouldn't be long before they fell unconscious and died from lack of oxygen. "Ze-Zexion…"

Zexion's voice instantly answered back into his ears. "—_I have heard everything. We are working on it. Try not to breathe and only speak again only under the direst of circumstances. Your body will start to shut down very soon; you will have to fight against it—_"

Squall wanted to yell back at him but he was too busy trying to not let any of the tainted air into his lungs. A strange pressure had started to build up in Squall head, it almost felt like he was being held underwater or suffocated, the feeling not fading no matter how many breathes of air he struggled against sucking in. Whatever Zexion and Riku thought they were doing, they weren't doing it fast enough. If he didn't do something now they would all die.

Forcing his head up, Squall's eyes frantically searched for anything, anything at all that could help the situation. The only light he had to go by was Almasy's flashlight which had clattered to the floor when Seifer had collapsed, so now the only thing it was pointing at was the bottom half of a wall. All of the paint had been chipped away and it looked like even the plaster was cracking, wooden boards nailed into the wall as if holding it together. Wasn't it? Squall's slowing mind struggled to process anything his blurry vision was seeing. Why would anyone nail boards into a wall…? Unless…unless they were covering something up…

Driven by desperation alone, Squall stumbled and crawled over to the other wall, no longer strong enough to even hold himself on his hands and knees. Once he was inches away he finally realized what part of him had known from the start. The boards weren't just nailed to the wall in some strange attempt to hold the building together, they were blocking something. Something flat and metallic and that even to Squall's clouded brain looked much too much like a vent to ignore.

Squall slumped against the wall and, with the rest of the strength left in his body, lifted up his rifle and swung the stock of the gun down like a sledgehammer. The blow landed straight in the center of the old wooden boards and Squall heard the sound he had been hoping for. A sharp 'crack'.

Though the vent was still blocked, the impact of the rifle had caused the boards to fracture down the middle. Letting his gun fall to the tile floor, Squall dug his fingers into the thin break and pulled at the wooden slats. The wood was old and dried out, probably having come with the building and, as Squall leaned all of his weight into it, the material finally gave way and splintered. As the nails bent and pulled free from the dirty plaster wall, the broken boards fell away and Squall was hit square in the face with the most disgusting, musty, mold-encrusted air he had ever smelled. But it was air.

Leaning back against the wall, Squall inhaled greedily and let the oxygen soak back into his body as the stale jet of air rushed past him and flooded the room. He knew it had reached Almasy when he began to cough, Cloud gagging as it hit him a moment later. Just like Squall though, both blondes seems to ignore the disgusting stench and began to take in deep breaths of the carbon dioxide. It was just slightly more appealing than suffocating to death.

Just as he was finally starting to be able to see straight again, Squall jumped as he heard a door slam open and he realized that the hissing noise, the sound that he now knew had been carbon monoxide seeping into the enclosed space, had stopped. Body still recovering, Squall was barely able to roll over enough to face the door that had been thrown open. It was on the wall on Squall's left, the door only a few feet from Almasy, and once again light streamed into the room, illuminating the silhouette of a large, imposing figure. Xaldin.

He wasn't quite as big as Lexaeus had been, but his heavy sideburns, dreadlocks, and piercing glare certainly were just as intimidating. Those dark indigo eyes skimmed over each of the figures sprawled out on the ground as Xaldin strolled into the room, his hands clasped behind his back. "Well, well. It seems that you've managed to figure out a way around my trap."

Almasy made a slight movement but before he could pull himself together enough to be a challenge, Xaldin stepped over and kicked Seifer's rifle from his hands. Taking in a shuddering breath, Squall's eyes narrowed as Xaldin let out a low chuckle. "Luckily for me, the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning will last in your systems long enough for me to finish my job."

Xaldin walked further into the room until he was nearly in the center and inches away from where Cloud was laying. Finally removed his hands from behind his back, he revealed three objects clutched in his gloved hands. Three fist-sized black cylinders. Grenades. Seeing them was all it took for Squall's faith in their survival disintegrate again. Across the room, Almasy let out a stifled noise of surprise and Xaldin glanced back at him.

"I see some of you recognize these. Well, for Cloud's sake, let me explain." Turning back around to face Cloud, the ex-Twilight Town detective leaned down and dangled the three grenades dangerously close to Cloud's face as the blonde glared up at him. Cloud was trying to push himself up, but he was clearly having as much trouble getting strength back into his muscles as Squall was. "This one is an incendiary grenade. Unfortunately carbon monoxide is highly flammable, so lighting this one would probably kill us all. This one is a flash grenade. It produces some force behind it and might cause some retinal damage of the eye, but that would be it. This last one, however, is called a concussion grenade and will easily kill anything it lands next to without endangering the life of the thrower. Take a good look, because it is likely to be the last thing you will ever see."

As Xaldin smirked and straightened back up, Squall tried once more to get movement back into his body. By now, his breathing had normalized and his vision was corrected itself but he still felt sluggish, as if he was just waking up from a long nap. He was recovering quickly, but not fast enough.

"—_Zex, I'm in position!—_"

Squall blinked as Riku's voice suddenly flooded into his ears through the headset. In position? In position for what? Squall wondered if it mattered in the end as Xaldin fingered the safety pin of the concussion grenade. He had thrown enough of grenades when he served in SeeD that Squall knew all too well that Xaldin could obliterate them within seconds.

"—_Hold on. I just managed to hack into the Organization's systems. Another moment and I will have the door open for you. Remember to keep your distance; the concentration of flammable gases in that room could prove hazardous_—" Zexion finally answered Riku back, the schemer's voice tight. Whatever was going on, the two of them clearly had a plan and Squall could only hope that it was a good one. "—_Ah, there we go!_—"

As soon as Zexion's voice sounded through the headset, the door that led back to the main factory floor suddenly popped open and Zexion's words suddenly made sense. Zexion had somehow gained access to the Organization's security system and had used the same trick that Xaldin had used earlier to remotely manipulate the doors of the room they were stuck in. Then when Riku had said he was in position, did that mean—?

Before Xaldin even had the chance to turn around and see what was going on, a single shot cut through the air and Xaldin jerked forward as a bullet flew into his back and passed straight through his shoulder, embedding itself into the wall beyond. Cloud ducked his head as a spray of blood showered over him and Xaldin stumbled forward, his dark eyes wide with shock.

"—_Gotcha, you bastard_—!"

Riku! He could've easily have shot straight through Xaldin's heart so it was clear that the assassin was trying to follow their directions and shoot to incapacitate, not kill. Usually Squall would've been impressed, but for once he wished that Riku hadn't listened as he saw Xaldin's hand grasp tighter around the grenade in his hand.

It didn't take a genius to read the expression on Xaldin's face; with Riku's unanticipated arrival, he was searching for an escape. And by the way the man's eyes kept darting back to the hallway where Riku was, Squall had a suspicion that back out into the factory floor was the only way out. His suspicions were confirmed as Xaldin suddenly switched out the grenade he was holding in his throwing hand and pulled the pin out.

Frantically shouting into his headset, Squall tried to push himself up to his feet, "Riku, look out! He's coming at you with a grenade, you're blocking his escape!"

"—_What—_?"

Squall didn't have the time to say anything else before Xaldin drew his hand back and hurled a grenade down the thin corridor. "_Riku_!"

Squall grit his teeth as Cloud and Almasy both let out a shout a blinding flash of light blasted out from the other end of the hall with an ear-splitting bang. None of the noise, however, was able to block out the sound of a sharp scream and Squall's heart flew up in his throat. Xaldin had thrown the flash grenade; it wasn't supposed to be lethal, but the way Riku had screamed…Riku wasn't his favorite person in the world, but he didn't want the punk to die!

Finally finding the strength to move, Squall stumbled up to his feet as Xaldin took the chance to make a run for it. Before Squall could even begin to give chase though, another gunshot rang out and Xaldin collapsed to the ground, shot through the leg. But the shot hadn't come from Riku…

Looking back over his shoulder, Squall caught sight of Almasy and gave the SWAT a nod of thanks. Seifer too had finally managed to find the strength to move and had pushed himself up just enough to get a good grasp on his rifle.

Hurrying shakily over to Xaldin, Squall knelt down next to him and quickly wrenched the last two grenades from the man's fingers and tucked them into his belt. He had no intention of ever using such a weapon again, but at least he could keep an eye on them that way.

One more check behind him showed that Cloud too was starting to move and Squall knew that between him and Almasy they would be able to handle Xaldin so he pushed on. Leaning against the wall for support, Squall staggered into the hallway and his eyes instantly landed on a figure curled up against the wall at the far end of the corridor. Riku.

Moving a little faster, Squall finally reached the silver-haired man and crouched down. Riku had his knees pulled up to his chest, his hands pressed tightly over his face, the hitman's sniper rifle left abandoned at his feet. At first Squall had just been relieved that the other was alive, but he had never seen Riku look so vulnerable before and it only made him worry more. Reaching out, Squall clasped the assassin's shoulder. "Riku…"

At the sound of Squall's voice, Riku started violently and tried to shake him off, his voice sharp and trembling. "Get off of me!"

"Hey, relax!" Instead of letting go, Squall tightened his grip. Riku seemed to be having some sort of panic attack. "Riku, it's me! It's Squall! It's Leon!" Squall could feel Riku's shaking begin to subside underneath his fingertips. "What happened, Riku? The grenade, did it hit you?"

"The, the grenade—shit, Leon, it hit me right in the face! I can't see!"

Squall's expression tightened. "That's a temporary side-effect of the flash grenade, it'll wear o—"

Jerking forward, Riku grit his teeth as his panic seemed to spike again. "I know how they work, Leon! Because of my damn injuries I couldn't get out of the way, it hit me in the face, and it's not wearing off!"

Squall knew that if Riku came in with the injuries he already had that the younger man would get himself into trouble, but right now definitely wasn't the moment for an "I-told-you-so". "Riku! _Riku!_ Calm down! Calm down, it'll be alright."

"_I can't fucking see!_"

"You'll be okay, just calm down." In truth, Squall was still very worried for the other, but he couldn't let it show. If the grenade had really detonated right in Riku's face, the supposedly non-lethal weapon could've done some very permanent damage. Right now though, Squall had to get Riku calmed down, otherwise he was just likely to make things worse for himself. But for Riku, a professional sniper, the fact that he might have just lost his vision must be terrifying. "Does it hurt?"

"_Yes_, it _hurts_!"

"Leonhart…"

Turning back towards the voice, Squall looked up to find that Almasy had made his way over to where they were sitting. "Where's Cloud?"

"He's pretty much recovered from the carbon monoxide so I left him in charge of securing Xaldin." Seifer's eyes jumped over to Riku. "What happened to him?"

Squall sighed. "The flashbang caught him right in the face." Almasy let out a short grunt of understanding. Even though Seifer seemed genuinely concerned about Riku, Squall knew the real reason why he had hobbled all the way over to them. He was anxious to keep moving. The only problem was that not even Squall had the heart to just abandon Riku right now in his current condition. For now, Riku needed to be taken back to the van and wait with Zexion until they could get him some real medical attention, but all three of them couldn't afford the time it would take to walk all the way back out there.

Almasy's voice broke through Squall's thoughts. "Well, while you decide what needs to be done here, I'm going to escort Xaldin back to the van. Strife should be done zip-tying his hands by now."

Squall's gaze lifted up from Riku and landed on Almasy's face. "You're doing what?"

Clutching his rifle a little tighter, Seifer scowled back down at him. He hated repeating himself. "I'm going to bring him outside. If Xemnas and whoever the hell else are waiting for us in that room you indicated, we need to move Xaldin out and away from the scene. Otherwise we'll have too many enemies piling up and we're liable to lose control of the situation. I figure if I'm going to take him from the room, I might as well take him all the way outside since he's still conscious and could easily cause us more trouble. I'll be back before you and Strife have even realized I've left."

"Are you feeling up to walking all the way out there?"

Almasy leveled Squall with an icy glare as if Squall had just insulted him. He probably had. "I'm fine. The carbon monoxide's nearly flushed from my system."

"Alright, then here's what we're going to do. While brining Xaldin outside you can move Riku back out too—"

"—No!" Squall was cut off by a strong rejection, but not from the person he had been expecting it from. Before he had even finished his sentence, Riku had reached out one hand and latched onto Squall's arm, his other hand still pressed down over his damaged eyes. If Squall didn't know any better, he'd say that the hitman didn't want them to be apart.

Looking up, Squall met Seifer's gaze. Rolling his eyes, Almasy knelt down next to the both of them and used the tone of voice Squall had heard so many times out in the desert when he was trying to calm a fellow soldier. Composed, direct, with no room left for disagreement. "Listen kid, Squall's right. I'm going to take you out to get help. I'll take care of you, but you're going to have to cooperate."

Still Riku hesitated and Squall gently pulled away from the assassin's grasp. "I trust Almasy with my life. He'll make sure that you get to the van in one piece."

There was a long pause before Riku's head jerked down into half of a nod and he took in a deep breath. "F-fine. Just…get me out of here."

It didn't take long after that for Squall, Cloud, and Seifer to force Xaldin to his feet and get him moving. The rifle Almasy had pressed into the criminal's spine probably helped with that. With one hand holding onto his firearm, Seifer used his other to wrap around Riku's shoulders, half supporting, half guiding the injured youth back towards the entrance.

Squall and Cloud both watched their receding backs for a moment before turning around to face their next hurdle. After all of that, they still had yet to even lay eyes on Saix or Xemnas although, going off of Zexion's predictions, they were dangerously close to doing just that. Standing in the room where they had almost been suffocated to death, Squall and Cloud stared at the door they were supposed to enter next with a distinct mixture of trepidation and determination.

Neither of them was feeling their best and with one man absent from their team they had been put at even a worse disadvantage. Nevertheless, Squall knew that time was of the essence. If they didn't act quickly, Xemnas and Saix would both have the chance to escape. If they really were right on the other side of the door, they would've heard the commotion coming from the hallway and the entrance to the administration area. They would know that they were next.

Steeling himself, Squall made the decision. With or without Seifer, they would proceed. Almasy would be back soon, if nothing went wrong on his end, and the success of the mission would be at stake if he and Cloud waited for him to return before they made their move. "Are you ready to go, Cloud?"

Next to him, the blonde gave a tight nod. "As I'll ever be."

Seeing the detective's hold tighten on his handgun, Squall nodded down at the pistol. "How're you doing on ammo?"

"Ah…I've got two clips left."

Cloud was doing better on ammunition than he was then, but he still didn't feel as comforted as he had hoped he would. After what almost happened to Cloud earlier and after seeing what happened to Riku…Squall let out a soft grunt then stepped forward and placed a quick kiss on Cloud's forehead. As he pulled back again, Cloud blinked up at him in shock and the only explanation Squall could give him was a shake of the head. "Be careful, alright?"

The detective's brows fell into a light glower, his blue eyes sparking. "Yeah. You just remember to take care of yourself too."

Instead of responding, Squall walked across the room to the door that they needed to go through next. He had nothing to say to Cloud about that; the only way he knew how to take care of himself was to take care of those he cared about. Whether or not Cloud understood the meaning behind his silence, the blonde was at his side as Squall reached out for the door handle.

It was Cloud's presence that gave Squall the strength he needed to actually turn the handle and push the door open.

And what met his eyes was definitely not what he had been expecting.

Like Zexion had guessed, the room they had just opened up looked like at one point it had been some sort of secretarial office. On the far side of the small room there was a door, undoubtedly leading back into the "executive's office". The broken tile flooring and dark, moldy paint peeling off of the plaster walls was the same as the room outside, but there was a large desk pushed into the middle of the room along with some other broken, nearly unidentifiable pieces of furniture. And there, standing behind the desk, was a man Squall recognized immediately, even though he had never seen him before. Saix.

Instantly Squall had his rifle up and pointed at the man, his stormy grey eyes meeting Saix's haunting yellow ones as the blue-haired man just stared back at him, his face a blank slate. Next to him, Cloud too had brought his handgun up, ready to fire, but even with two firearms pointed straight at him, Saix looked entirely unconcerned.

Scowling, Squall took a step inside, Cloud matching his movements. Squall couldn't see any weapons on the man, but it didn't mean that he wasn't armed and wasn't dangerous. Saix's demeanor was throwing Squall for a loop, but he couldn't let it get to him. "Get down on the ground, now!"

"I'm afraid I will have to refuse."

Squall glanced over at Cloud and saw that the lawman was just as confused as he was as they walked a little further into the room. He had been expecting another attack on their lives, at least a gun pointed back at them, but so far Saix hadn't made so much as a threatening motion except for the fact that he wasn't cooperating with their demands.

Trying to feel out the situation, Cloud tried a new approach. "Is Xemnas in the back room? Did he order you to guard him?"

Saix paused for a moment before the blue-haired man turned his gaze on the detective. "My master is indeed in the room behind me. However, you cannot be allowed to see him. If you try to gain access to him, I will stop you."

It felt wrong keeping a gun trained on an apparently unarmed man, but Saix's attitude was setting off all sorts of alarms in Squall's brain. He was acting far too calm for the situation. Squall, Cloud, and Seifer had just wounded and arrested all of his companions. Saix should be attacking them, trying to escape, something else besides just standing there feet away and holding a conversation with them. It wasn't normal behavior and Squall didn't know how to react to it.

As he did so often when he didn't know what to do, Squall reverted back to his training. "This is your last chance, get on the ground or I'll be forced to shoot."

"Do not threaten me."

Stepping even closer, Squall tried to intimidate Saix into compliance by moving the aim of his rifle up to the man's face. "Down on the floor!"

As soon as the barrel of Squall's gun moved up to his face, something changed in Saix's eyes. "I warned you!"

Suddenly any semblance of calm had been wiped from Saix's face and was replaced with pure instinctual rage. Letting out a deep snarl like something possessed, Saix lunged forward and Squall, still reeling from the switch in his personality, jerked back.

Too close to fire his rifle, Squall stumbled back a few more steps as he felt Cloud rush up behind him. In the second that Squall had retreated, Saix had ripped open one of the drawers of the secretary's desk and pulled out a very dangerous looking combat knife, the same type designed by the military for close combat.

Cloud's eyes had already locked onto the weapon but before he could so much as tell Saix to drop it, the blue-haired man charged straight at them. Shouting in surprise, Squall narrowly dodged Saix's wild swing, the man letting out a snarl as Squall escaped injury.

Saix seemed to have gone completely insane and was now attacking with a berserker rage that not even Squall had ever seen before. The only thing he seemed to care about was burying his knife into his enemies. Squall could barely keep track of Saix's movements as he relentlessly swung his blade around, letting out grunts of pain as the knife sliced into his arm. In such close combat, there was no way that he could effectively fire his gun and, even if he could he wouldn't dare to do so; with all the movement, there was too high a chance that he'd end up shooting Cloud on accident.

Squall heard Cloud let out a cry of pain as Saix's knife caught him on his left shoulder and he felt a spatter of the detective's blood hit the side of his face. Spotting Squall's horrified expression, Saix released a psychotic laugh as he rushed forward for another attack. "Are you angry? I know very well how to injure a heart!"

With a growl of his own, Squall used the barrel of his gun to deflect another one of Saix's swings and tried to push him back so that they could get a clear shot at him. At this point, Squall would be happy to shoot him right between the eyes if it put an end to Saix's vicious onslaught.

Any attempt to push Saix away though did nothing but rouse the man into a deeper rage and for a second his feral yellow eyes locked with Squall's. "Which would you rather suffer the loss of? Your life, or his?"

Squall's heart jumped up into his throat at the low growl and he could barely breathe as Saix broke free and made another lunge for Cloud. Cloud, though, had anticipated the attack. Having slipped his useless handgun back into its holster, the detective had freed up both of his hands and as soon as Saix lashed out to stab him Cloud grabbed the man's outstretched arm and flipped the maniac over his shoulder, just like he had done to Marluxia in the alleyway back in Traverse Town.

Saix hit the ground with a sickening thud and Squall wasted no time in jumping on top of him to hold him down. Getting thrown like that would've stunned most men but Saix was struggling harder than ever, almost knocking Squall off as he thrashed around like a wild animal. Cloud dropped down to help and even between the two of them they were barely keeping Saix pinned, sweat beginning to bead up on Squall's forward as he put most of his energy into ensuring that Saix's right hand, the one he was using to swing around his combat knife, stayed on the ground.

"Leon, I don't know how long we can keep him down!"

"I know!" Squall grit his teeth as Saix let out a furious snarl and almost managed to jerk his wrist free. Hoping that Zexion was still listening in, Squall shouted into his headset. "We could really use some help in here!"

"—_Commander Almasy just arrived a moment ago and left as soon as he dropped Riku and the prisoner off. He should be back to you in a minute_—"

Biting back a sigh of relief, Squall looked back over his shoulder to where Cloud was trying to keep Saix's legs pinned. "Almasy's on his way!"

"Tell him to hurry u-ah!" The detective was cut off as, with a sudden twist of his body, Saix managed to break free of the blonde's hold and kneed Cloud in the face. Cursing as Cloud reeled back from the blow, Squall felt his hold on Saix's arms loosening and just when he thought the blue-haired man was about to break free he heard footsteps running towards them.

"Leonhart! Strife!"

Squall's face lit up as he heard Seifer's voice. He had never been so happy to hear from his ex-commander. "Almasy, get in here!" Not needing to be told twice, Seifer threw himself right into the melee and between the three of them they finally managed to hold Saix down.

Panting, Cloud spit some blood from his mouth as it dripped down from his nose. "If you two can keep him pinned, I'll get the zip-ties on."

Squall nodded. "We got him, make it fast."

The detective quickly got going, wrenching Saix's blade from his hand. Working around the two ex-soldiers, Cloud attached zip-tie after zip-tie to the criminal in order to make sure that Saix's limbs remained bound. Grimacing as the knife wound on his arm stretched, Squall looked back as Seifer let out a mirthless chuckle. "I see you two managed to get in over your heads while I was away."

Switching his gaze to Cloud, Squall heaved a breath. The blonde's white shirt and pale skin was covered now in streaks of blood, some of which was undoubtedly Squall's by the patterning of some of the red splatters. Squall was sure that he didn't look much better. "You could say that…"

"But seriously, are either of you badly injured?"

After another visual sweep of Cloud's injuries, Squall answered for the both of them. "I think we can keep moving. He managed to get us a few times with the knife, but my cuts are pretty superficial."

Finishing up, Cloud wiped some of the blood off of his face with his sleeve. "Same here. More than that, Saix confirmed that Xemnas if in the next room. None of us can spare the time to go back now."

As Cloud shakily rose to his feet, Squall slowly leaned his weight off of Saix, letting himself relax only after he saw for himself that the maniac wasn't going anywhere anymore. As soon as Cloud had pulled his knife from his hands, Saix had gone eerily still, almost as if returning to that calm, unaffected persona who they had first met. None of them were about to fall for that act again though.

Pushing himself up, Seifer readjusted his rifle as it hung around his neck. The only one of the three of them who wasn't now covered in blood, he still wasn't looking much healthier. Squall knew that they were all nearing the limits of what their bodies could take. "I don't get it. Why has this Xemnas guy hung around while we beat the crap out of all of his subordinates? He has to know that we're coming for him next."

Leaning against the desk in the middle of the room, Squall stood up as well, ignoring all of his aches and pains. They were so close to the end now, so close to ending this, that there was no other choice. "I don't know, but I can't say I'm sorry for it."

"You should just ask him yourselves."

At the sound of the deep voice, Squall's head whipped around so fast that he almost made himself dizzy as Cloud froze up next to him. The door in the back of the room, the one leading back to the executive suite, had opened. It was like they were being invited in.

Slowly, Squall's eyes moved back to meet Seifer's and his ex-commander, looking just as shocked as Squall and Cloud, could only shrug.

Was it another trap? Probably. But, really, what else could they do at this point besides walk into it?


	20. Chapter 20

Wah, last real chapter? Sorry it took a while to get it uploaded; real life decided to sneak up on me again. That and I had to figure some logistics out for this chapter to make it work. Going along with that, Xemnas's weapons…I put a lot of thought into how to convert those stupid laser sticks he uses in the game into a more realistic weapon, so hopefully the result of my brainstorming works decently for you. Why couldn't he have used something easier for me to fit into my story? Like a gun? Or a bazooka? XD Anyway, huge thanks must go out to: ramen-is-my-goddess, infinityinmirrors, Dragi, Pyro. Ahlex, Stellar Eclipse, r a a i n, Cloudia119, Blah, Shinimegami7, Becca86, Mirror and Darkling, FuzzyLion, ChaosGarden, Alpha Kan't Spell, kingdomheartslover13, Oreo, CharlieTrance, Lady Chicobo, .Jeh .Cerbie, xacilia, BRP, Aindel S. Druida, Kitsune, nearcreature, SlippingSanity, and YumiStar!

As I will occasionally do, now that this story has ended, I do intend to write some "bonus chapters", readers' choice. All you who read "Song of the Condemned" know how this works, but I'll put more information about it at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!(?)

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Chapter 20

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Hesitantly, as if the tiles underneath his boots were land mines, Squall crept forward with his rifle clutched tightly in his hands. He could feel Cloud's body heat behind him as the detective moved close to follow him towards the open doorway, Seifer right on the shorter blonde's heels.

The back room was larger than the secretarial room and in slightly better condition. The paint wasn't as peeling and the furniture was more intact, including another large desk. Unlike Saix however, Xemnas wasn't standing behind it. He was leaning up against the front of it, facing them as they crept inside and watching them approach as if they were a newly discovered species of insect. Bruised and bloodied as they were, the look he gave them made Squall wonder just what exactly they were going up against.

But there weren't obvious signs of any traps set up around the door so Squall fought down his intimidated nerves and took another step forward. "Why are you still here?"

Releasing a low chuckle, Xemnas stood up and carefully straightened out the jacket of his black suit. Someone had clearly picked up a new outfit for their boss after they sprang him from prison. "I could have easily escaped while my underlings had you distracted. I could have easily sent them up against you all at once as well. You intrigued me, you see. I was wondering who would dare interfere with my plans. What sort of people would dare to challenge me? I wanted to test you. The novelty, however, has begun to wear off."

Xemnas's deep voice reverberated around the room as at the same time his words pierced into Squall's confidence. What kind of person considered something like this to be a "novelty"?

It seemed like Almasy had similar questions as the scarred blonde growled back at the Organization's leader. "We just beat the shit out of all of your men, and you just stand here and do nothing about it to satisfy your own curiosity? What kind of sicko are you?"

Xemnas's golden eyes narrowed. "The same type that gains control over the most powerful crime group that has ever existed on this continent, so watch your tone! My _curiosity_ is the only thing that has kept you alive."

Before Almasy could deliver any comeback, Squall felt Cloud shift beside him, the detective speaking up as he leveled his handgun at Xemnas's chest. His expression was cold and steady, but Squall knew him well enough to hear the slight tremor in his voice. He was nervous. "Then I suppose we ought to thank you for that. But enough is enough. Xehanort 'Xemnas' St. Peter, you are under arrest."

Squall's instincts went on high alert as Xemnas's gaze zeroed in on Cloud. "You must be joking, Detective. Do you really think I will allow myself to be arrested and taken back to that purgatory you call jail?"

Wanting to take the focus off of Cloud, Squall drew it to himself by answering back. "We're not giving you a choice. Either come quietly or we'll shoot you."

Squall's plan worked as Xemnas's gaze flew over to him, his yellow stare so intense it felt like it was drilling into Squall's skull. "You see, there is a choice. There is always a choice. Now that I am out, I will stay out. And I will rebuild my empire into more than it has ever been before." Lifting his arms, Xemnas motioned around himself with a broad sweep of his hands. "The Organization's influence will stretch on from Dark City all the way to Midgar, and once established there will be nothing that will be able to stop me! You three and the rest of your band of miscreants will be nothing more than a memory."

Cloud's expression tightened, and instantly all of his nervousness seemed to be replaced with a fast determination. "I won't let that happen, Xemnas. This ends today."

"I am certain that will be true, for the three of you. As I said before," Squall unconsciously took a step back as Xemnas flexed his arms, causing two long rods to slide out from the long sleeves of his suit jacket and into the palms of his hands, "there is always a choice, and now it is time for you to make yours. Surrender and I will kill you swiftly or don't, and I will take my time and make you suffer." It wasn't until the noise of arcing electricity filled the room that Squall realized what they were: stun batons. A version he had never seen before, but as white sparks danced over the batons' red metal exteriors it was clear that they would do some damage.

Almasy answered back for all of them as he, Squall, and Cloud all raised their weapons up to fire. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Very well then."

Ever concerned with morality, Cloud seemed hesitant to shoot but, seeing Xemnas advancing with stun baton in each hand, Squall didn't have the same doubts. He had learned from his mistakes with Xemnas's lackeys. Taking half a second to aim, Squall fired three rounds straight into Xemnas's chest, sending the man stumbling back against his desk.

Squall couldn't help but smirk as he heard Seifer let out a scoff behind him but both of their expressions were cut short as Xemnas just pushed himself back up. Blinking in shock, Squall's eyes darted to the still-smoking bullet holes in the man's expensive suit then realized that there was an absolute lack of blood staining the high-end black fabric. Xemnas wasn't dead, he wasn't even wounded.

Xemnas must have seen the shocked look on Squall's face because an evil-looking smile spread across the tanned man's lips. "I can't be taken down so easily."

From over Squall's shoulder, Almasy quickly responded with another burst of gunfire, aimed lower this time at Xemnas's abdomen. Once again, except for a small stumble, they seemed to have no effect whatsoever on the Organization boss. So either he was immortal or he was wearing bullet-proof armor under his tailored suit.

Praying that it was the latter, Squall jumped out of the way as Xemnas swept his electrically-charged weapon at them. Back on the other side of the room, Cloud had pressed himself against the wall to avoid being hit, the blonde taking the opportunity to fire a round into Xemnas's right arm. Again the bullet was stopped short of doing any damage. So the bullet-proof armor ran all the way down Xemnas's arms then, probably all the way down his legs too. He had definitely come into this prepared.

Xemnas's head was the only obvious weak point in his defenses, but there were two problems that Squall had with using that weakness against the Organization's leader. First, headshots were messy and mentally scarring, particularly when they were executed at such a close range. And second, and more importantly, headshots could be dodged more easily than other shots. Especially in such an enclosed space, the chance that the cross-fire would hit either Cloud or Seifer was too great a risk.

After Cloud shot as Xemnas's arm, Seifer lunged forward to try and go for a more direct attack, using his rifle as a club instead of a firearm. Sidestepping Almasy's attack, Xemnas's retribution for the attempt was swift as he swiped down at Seifer's back as the SWAT skidded past. The red baton made contact with Almasy's jacket and with a loud snap of electrons Seifer jerked in pain. Stumbling forward, Almasy just barely kept himself from falling to the ground and just barely avoided a follow-up blow from Xemnas's second baton.

Seeing that Seifer was still in danger of being hit again, Cloud jumped back in. Forgoing weapons altogether he swung his arm out, trying to use martial arts to disarm Xemnas. Just as Cloud was about to grab the boss's wrist, Xemnas countered by slamming the baton in his other hand into Cloud's side with a cold laugh. "Your tricks won't work on me."

The detective's sharp cry as a volt of electricity surged into him was enough to send Squall flying back across the room, fully intent on killing Xemnas with his bare hands if he had to. Practically vaulting over Seifer's half-crumpled form, Squall jumped between Cloud and Xemnas. Before Xemnas could even react to his sudden presence, Squall sent his fist flying into the side of the boss's cheek in a perfect right hook.

The blow caused Xemnas to fall back a few steps but in his current state of exhaustion Squall hadn't managed to put enough force behind the punch to do much more than momentarily jar the man. Then again, Xemnas seemed just as stunned by the fact that Squall had reverted to something as lowbrow as a punch. In the end, it just seemed to piss their opponent off more.

The only warning Squall had was a small growl before an electrified baton suddenly swung into his chest. His leather jacket did nothing to temper the sharp jolt and for a second he thought that his heart had stopped from the surge of electricity.

Falling to his knees, Squall heard Cloud let out a gasping shout behind him and looked up just in time to see Xemnas raised his arm for another blow. Trying to roll to the side, Squall was stuck fast by the sting of the electricity still dancing around in his chest. Squall knew he wasn't going anywhere fast and grit his teeth, steeling himself for the impact.

But it never came. Just as Xemnas started to swing his arm down, Almasy was suddenly on his feet and stepped in front of Squall. Instead of crashing down onto Squall's skull, the baton caught the side of Seifer's head and, already unsteady, Almasy flew sideways, his shoulder slamming into Xemnas's large wooden desk with a loud thud.

Squall watched in shock as Almasy's limp body slid to the tiled floor, the blonde solider unconscious as a trickle of blood seeped down from underneath his beanie. The sight of the blood snapped Squall back into action. Seifer just took a hit for him, he had to make his commander's sacrifice worth it!

Knowing that basic physical attacks seemed to be the most effective, Squall pushed through the pain and, getting up off of his knees, let his momentum carry him forward. In a desperate move, he grabbed onto the lapel of Xemnas's suit to try and tackle him to the ground.

As they tumbled down onto the tile, Squall fought to keep track of Xemnas's hands—and the weapons clutched in his fingers—but it was just too much for his tired body to handle at once. Breaking one arm free of Squall's grip, Xemnas brought one of his batons down hard on Squall's arm. A new burst of pain exploded in Squall's brain and he was surprised that his bone hadn't snapped from the attack.

"_Leon!_"

Struggling to breathe, to think of anything but the pain shooting through him as electricity jumped across his skin, Squall brain barely registered that Cloud was running over to him to help. By now Xemnas had almost entirely pulled himself free, Squall's grip having gone slack after the blow, and if Cloud came over now—"Cloud…! Stay back!"

Xemnas's voice echoed out from somewhere above him as Squall remained sprawled out across the dirty ceramic tile, barely able to see his enemy standing over him. "Such devotion…never have I seen something so insignificant."

Squall jerked again as Xemnas kicked him in the stomach. Letting out a rough cough, Squall winced as he felt something leak down from the corner of his mouth, hoping that it wasn't blood. He had had enough internal damage during his time with SeeD to last him a lifetime.

"Xemnas, get away from him!"

"Or what, Detective? You are all going to die here anyway, does it really matter the order?"

Squall's fingers gripped at the tile underneath his palms, trying to find any sort of traction as he grimaced. He needed to get up, he needed…he needed to get back on his feet!

"I'm warning you—!"

"Again, warning me of what?" Squall heard Xemnas laugh as he stepped closer to where he was laying and Squall realized why Xemnas had chosen to wield stun batons instead of a more traditional gun. Xemnas liked to torture his victims before they died. "Will you shoot me, Detective, in the head? Isn't that against police department policy?"

"Cloud…" Squall's broken protest caught in his throat as he felt Xemnas bend over and pull something off of his belt. What did he take—? Oh. Oh no. The grenades, the grenades he had taken off of Xaldin. He had hooked them onto his belt.

Squall's fears were confirmed as Xemnas spoke. "I see your thieving tendencies haven't faded. These belonged to my third in command. Perhaps I should use them for their original intention?"

Sucking in a breath, Squall tried to push himself up onto his hands and knees. There was no reason for him to think that Xemnas was bluffing. "…Cloud, run!"

Now that his face was lifted up off of the ground, he could see Cloud standing on the other side of the room, expression ashen but resolute, gun trained on Xemnas as the silver-haired man towered over Squall. "I'm not leaving! Step away from Leon, Xemnas, and put down the grenade and your other weapons. Don't make me say it again!"

"Cloud—!"

Any progress Squall had made was taken away by another kick from Xemnas, the toe of his black leather shoe digging right underneath his rib cage, knocking him back down to the ground. "I tire of the sound of your voice. So pathetic."

"Leon! Xemnas, this is your last chance—!"

"And this is yours! It will take less than a second to drop this grenade on top of your comrade and have his blood paint my office red. Put down your own weapon and I can promise that your deaths will be as painless as possible."

"Don't—!" Squall tensed as Cloud's voice grew panicked, his heart thundering in his chest, fully expecting to feel a grenade fall onto his back.

"Say goodbye to your friend, Detective—"

Nearly as soon as Xemnas finished his sentence, the tension was shattered by a loud bang. Having been ready to feel his body being ripped apart in a fiery explosion, the noise made Squall give a violent start, a shudder running through him as his skin was met not with an inferno but a wet splatter. Letting out a gasp, Squall sucked in a breath and lifted his head in time to see Xemnas fall to the ground, grenade clutched loosely in his hand, and a bullet wound right between his eyes.

Squall watched wide-eyed, covered in Xemnas's blood, as the light faded from the man's eyes, an equally shocked expression on that tanned face. After a long moment Squall ripped his gaze away and looked up to find Cloud standing, frozen, gun lowered at his side, face still deathly pale. As soon as their eyes met though a strangled noise slipped passed Cloud's lips and the blonde stumbled forward.

"The grenade. He, he was going to—I had to—"

As Cloud practically collapsed beside him, Squall reached up with one arm and pressed it against the detective's cheek. The blonde's eyes had taken on a wild look to them and Squall gathered up enough strength to speak, determined to calm the man back down. He had just killed someone, probably the first time he had ever shot someone above the neck, he was bound to be fairly freaked out. "Cloud, it's alright. You did good."

Squall could feel Cloud shaking against his palm. "I-I've never just—"

"You did good." Having never broken their eye contact, Squall gave a firm nod. Finally, Cloud seemed to get the message because something settled back down in his blue eyes. Almost as quickly, the detective seemed to remember that Squall was lying on the ground and his eyes widened again.

"Leon, you're okay, right?"

Gritting his teeth as he tried to move again, Squall relented as Cloud leaned down to help pull him back up. His stomach felt like it had been hit twice with a sledgehammer and his chest hurt from the electrical jolt but, "I'll be…fine. I just need to get my breath back."

"Are you sure?" Now that Squall was sitting upright, Cloud carefully prodded at his torso. "No broken bones? He was knocking you around pretty hard."

Biting back a curse as Cloud touched a tender spot, Squall gently pushed him away. "Nothing broken, though I'm sure I'll have a few bruises to go along with the cuts and scrapes from the bullets. I'm more worried about Almasy."

"Right, I'll go check on him."

Cloud stood and Squall almost tumbled back over without the detective there to hold him up. Fumbling for balance, Squall forced himself to take another deep breath as Cloud sidestepped Xemnas's still body and kneeled down beside Seifer.

A few stressed seconds passed before Cloud called back to him, the man's voice relieved. "He's still breathing! He's just unconscious."

Thank god for that. If Almasy hadn't pulled through…well…Squall never would've been able to forgive himself. As Cloud worked on waking Seifer up, Squall slowly dragged himself over to where the two blondes were, his muscles and joints aching. Cloud tossed him a concerned look when he drew close but Squall just shook his head to show that he was alright before leaning over his ex-commander. "Almasy, hey."

Reaching down, Squall pressed his fingers against the man's neck. His pulse was slow but steady. If Seifer hadn't broken any bones, like his spine, from getting tossed back he would probably be okay. Following the trail of blood seeping down the SWAT's face, Squall pulled off his beanie and examined the patch of reddened, cropped blonde hair where Xemnas's baton had made contact. It looked bad, but there didn't seem to be any skull fracturing and the wound didn't look too deep. Convinced that Seifer wasn't on the brink of death, Squall reached down and gently shook his arm, trying again to wake him. "Almasy!"

This time his efforts were rewarded by a rough moan, Seifer's face pulling into a grimace before his eyes slowly flickered open. "Shit…" Squall sent him a tight smile as Almasy blinked and their eyes met, his blue ones still a bit clouded. "…This is a messed up dream…"

A short huff, the closest thing to a laugh Squall could manage, burst out as Squall shook his head, his grip tightening on Almasy's arm. "You're not dreaming, you were knocked out. Are you alright?"

"Huh? Ugh…" Cloud moved closer to help as Seifer sat up with a low groan. "…I'll live…" Clumsily snatching his beanie back from Squall's hand, Almasy pulled it back on as his eyes slowly scanned the room, his gaze finally falling on Xemnas's body laying not four feet away. "Damn…Looks like I missed all the action. Some help I was."

Squall was surprised as Cloud's voice burst in. "But what you did probably saved Leon's life." Almasy looked equally surprised by the detective's words and the two blondes stared at each other for a moment, almost as if they were having a silent conversation that Squall couldn't interpret. Finally Cloud ended the moment, his tone softer. "Can you walk?"

"Just…" Almasy released a long breath, "help me up. I'll manage."

Wondering what the hell he had just missed, Squall decided to let it go and focus instead on helping Seifer to his feet. Since he was barely steady standing on his own the task took all of his concentration. In the end, Cloud had to support Almasy's other side to keep both of them from tumbling back to the ground.

Looking down the line at the three of them, Squall realized how close they had all been to dying. They were all covered in cuts and blood spatters, their clothes torn by knife blades and bullets, their skin bruised and battered. The silence that wrapped around them as they began to limp their way out was filled only by the sound of their pants and shaky inhales. Any sense of victory he had was still buried under layer upon layer of aches and pains, worry about Seifer, Cloud, and Riku, and an exhaustion so deep he felt like he could sleep for a week straight and still be tired.

Staggering out of Xemnas's room, they went straight through the small secretary's office where Saix was still bound on the floor. The man must have heard everything but just stared listlessly up at the molded ceiling as they passed by. Hesitating only a moment, Squall glanced over at Cloud. "Should we take him with us?"

"No. We can barely hold ourselves up as it is." Adjusting his hold around Seifer's waist, the detective's attention never left the doorway they were heading for. "Now that we've finished, after we make it out I'll call the police in to help make the arrests."

"Alright…" Cloud's face was so serious Squall knew better than to argue, especially when he barely had the capacity for a coherent thought.

As they exited into the administration area and began to head into the hallway that linked that section of the dilapidated building with the main factory floor, Squall's thoughts drifted back to Riku. Pressing the hand not wrapped around Almasy's back to his headset, Squall spoke into it, hoping that his voice would still be intelligible over the radio waves. "Zexion, are you there?"

Seifer tossed him a look but instead of explaining Squall just waited for a response. There was a long pause before Zexion finally came on the line, his tone clipped. "—_Leon. Am I correct in assuming that you have completed your task?—_"

Squall sighed into the microphone. "Yeah. We're done here. How's Riku doing?"

"—_Not well. I am hardly qualified to care for him. He requires immediate medical attention—_"

"Okay, sit tight. We're on our way out. Cloud's going to make a call to the PD to have them come and pick up the survivors. I'm sure he can have them send an ambulance while he's at it."

"—_See that he does_—"

As soon as Zexion's voice faded in his ears, Cloud spoke up. "Ambulance?"

"For Riku. Maybe Almasy—"

Seifer cut him off with a short growl. "…I don't think so. No ambulance for me."

"You can barely walk."

"Neither can you."

Before Squall and Seifer could get into too big of a disagreement, Cloud ended the conversation. "_All_ of us should get looked at by a paramedic before going anywhere. I'll call the ambulance for Riku but tell them to pack some extra supplies."

"…Whatever." Squall glared at Seifer as they simultaneously gave the same answer.

By now they had made it out into the middle of the factory floor. Lexaeus was still chained to the pipe where they had left him, an occasional moan drifting up from the Organization grunts sprawled across the concrete as they hobbled through. But as he, Cloud, and Seifer all stopped speaking Squall knew that their attention had all been captured by the same thing. The door to the lobby was open and through it he could just make out the outside world. He didn't think moonlit darkness had ever looked so welcoming.

With their concentration all now on the single goal of making it outside, the three managed to pick up their pace until they were almost jogging. The rest of the room passed by in a blur for Squall, his next conscious thought not popping up until he found himself half-jumping, half-tripping out the front door and out into the weeds that surrounded the building.

The cool night air washed over him and it felt so good that he didn't even mind the way it made the cuts on his arms and face sting. It was like he had just stepped off a battlefield, like he had just made it through hell and back.

From the front door of the factory building, the trip to the van flew by in a rush and before he knew it Squall was throwing open the back doors of the vehicle. Inside Zexion jumped as Riku gave a violent start, the young man now clutching a towel over his eyes like a blindfold. "We're back."

Zexion pulled off his headset and placed it on top of the computer he had been facing. "It's about time. Detective Strife, make the call."

As Squall gently eased Seifer down to sit on the bumper of the van, Cloud wearily climbed up into the back. Now that they were out of the building, Squall noticed just how hoarse and worn Cloud's voice sounded. "Do you happen to have a police scanner?"

Zexion scowled as he dug something out from a pile of electronic devices. "Of course I do."

"Of course you do…"

It was then, as Cloud accepted the radio, that it hit him. They had done it. They had destroyed the Organization. It was over.

Mind reeling, Squall slowly lowered himself down to sit on the bumper next to Almasy as he heard Cloud begin to speak into the receiver. After two years of fighting against the Organization, they had finally won. "This is Detective Cloud Strife of the Twilight Town Police Department. Code two, in need of immediate backup. Eleven forty-one, ambulance needed on scene along with police assistance…Does anyone copy?"

Everyone in the van waited in silence for a tense moment, their relief nearly palpable as a voice crackled back through the static. "—_Detective Strife, this is Traverse Town Dispatch. What's your ten-twenty?—_"

"Dispatch, I'm located out in the abandoned industrial area east of Traverse Town, about a mile in on the main road. I was…" Cloud's words caught in his throat, "investigating a lead and brought into gunfight. My partner and I then conducted an unscheduled raid. Send in prison transports."

"—_How many have you taken into custody?—_"

"Uh…Exact number unknown. Possibly as many as thirty have been restrained."

"—_All available units have been sent out to your location. Someone should reach you in less than ten minutes. Are you in any immediate danger?—_"

"No…No, there are no more signs of any immediate threats. The fight's over."

OoOoOo

Cloud allowed a paramedic to lead him over to the back of an ambulance with a blank look, blue and red lights flashing across his pale face. The Traverse Town Police had arrived nearly half an hour ago and had just begun to process the scene after unloading all of their new prisoners from the premises. He had told his version of the night's events to four different people now, his mind straining with the effort to get every single detail to match each time. As a detective himself, he knew how important it was to have a consistent story.

Riku had already been whisked away to the hospital in Traverse Town hospital, the ambulance he was currently leaning against the second ambulance to arrive at the location. In the back of the emergency vehicle the EMTs were giving Leon and Seifer a thorough examination as both men had adamantly refused to be taken to the hospital along with Riku.

So far the hardest part had been trying to explain Leon, Riku, and Zexion's presence to the Traverse Town cops. Taking a ride out into an abandoned industrial area in the back of a suspicious-looking van with three convicted felons wasn't exactly a normal activity, even if Seifer, a member of Twilight Town's SWAT team, had been accompanying them.

As the paramedic began to prod at a cut on his arm, he caught sight of yet another law enforcement officer heading over in his direction. Cloud remembered him though; he was the policeman who had driven Cloud to Leon's house after he realized that he was being followed from the train station. That had only been about a week ago, but it felt like years. "Officer Brooks. Do you need me to give a statement as well?"

The older man gave him a sympathetic look. "Unfortunately, yes. I just had a look around and I definitely have some questions for you."

As well he should. And Cloud would've been much more excited about telling him anything he wanted to know, if only he didn't feel like he was about to topple over. "I understand."

He felt Officer Brook's eyes scan his face before the man let out a small sigh. "But just by looking at you, I can tell that you are in desperate need of a little rest. So how about this? You can find some place in town to stay the night, my boys and I will finish processing the scene, then tomorrow at eight o' clock sharp you show up in my office and we'll talk all this out."

"Would that be alright?"

There must've been something particularly pathetic in his tone judging by the way Officer Brook's eyes softened. "As a fellow officer, I think I can trust you. Go get some sleep, detective."

Releasing a sigh, Cloud nodded. "Thank you, sir."

The Lieutenant nodded back and with a wave left Cloud alone. Sensing that he had been officially dismissed from the scene, Cloud let the EMT bandage up the worst of his wounds before turning back to where Leon and Seifer were still sitting. The paramedics had been busy pumping oxygen and fluids into them and, though they still both looked like they had been attacked by a wood chipper, they seemed a little less like they were about to pass out. And that was pretty much all Cloud could hope for at the moment. "They just released me, which I assume means the rest of us are free to go as well. Are you two okay?"

Leon, who had seemed annoyed the moment they had started fussing over him, gave a stiff nod, a smudge of blood still spattered on his cheek. "I'll be fine once I get some sleep."

"Same here." Urging the EMT attending him away, Seifer stood up and gracelessly hopped out of the back of the ambulance. The man's whole torso had pretty much been bandaged up so his movements were awkward. "But I don't know if I'll be able to drive the van back this time."

Looking between himself, Seifer, and Leon, and thinking back to where Zexion was waiting for them with his broken ribs, Cloud realized that he was probably in the best condition of all of them. "Don't worry about it. I'll drive."

Leon narrowed his stormy eyes as he slipped out of the ambulance. "Are you sure?"

"It's fine, I'll drive. I can manage that much…"

Neither Leon nor Seifer were really in a position to argue, since the only other viable options were to either wait for a cop to drive them back into town or call a taxi, and minutes later Cloud was sitting in the driver's seat of Zexion's van with Zexion himself sitting shotgun. Leon and Seifer were in the back and Cloud hoped that the two would be able to not start a fight before they reached town.

Luckily the first stop he made was to drop Seifer off at the train station. Before they left Leon had offered the SWAT his couch for the night but Seifer had refused. Cloud had tried to convince him that boarding the train while looking like you just got out of a nasty bar fight was bound to attract some attention but Seifer had just brushed him off.

Pulling up to the curb, Cloud checked the clock on the van's dashboard. If Seifer hurried he would just be able to catch the last train heading into Twilight Town before morning. Maybe Seifer was aware of his timing too because as soon as the van came to a stop the back doors opened and he pulled himself out. Rolling down his window as Seifer passed by, Cloud offered him a small wave. "Hey, if you get the chance, could you stop by Roxas's house on your way home? It's only a block away from the Twilight Town train station."

Heaving an irritated sigh, Seifer leaned up against the hood of the van. "Why don't you just call him? He's your brother."

"Because I want to know for sure that while we weren't off launching a raid against the Organization, one of the members of their Twilight Town branch wasn't going on a murder spree in retaliation. I would go, but I need to stay in town so that I can give my statement to the Traverse Town PD early tomorrow morning."

"Do you really think that _you_ should be asking _me_ for any more favors tonight?"

Cloud's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Look, I know that it's a pain, and I know you and Roxas don't have the best relationship, but this is really important. I need to make sure he's alright and I need someone I can trust to tell me he's alright. You'll get back before Axel will and it's not that far out of the way. He lives in the apartment complex, down Station Heights, apartment number 313."

Cloud determinedly met Seifer's gaze and for two good solid seconds they just stared at each other before Seifer threw a hand up in the air. "Fine. I don't have time to argue with you about this shit; I have a train to catch." Pushing himself off of the van, Seifer pulled his beanie a little farther down on his forehead. "I'll check up on the lamer for you and give you a call to tell you if he's dead or not, but you owe me."

"I can live with that." With that small weight lifted off of his shoulders, Cloud gave Seifer a small, relieved smile. "Thanks, I mean it."

Turning his back, Seifer shrugged as he climbed the steps up to the train station, calling a lazy "whatever" back over his shoulder. Cloud had to wonder if he had picked that line up from Leon or vice versa.

"It seems you two have a complicated relationship."

Rolling his eyes, Cloud shifted the van back into drive and pulled away from the curb. "Shut up, Zexion. You're getting dropped off next, so you'll have to show me the way to your house."

Cloud heard Zexion let out a huff from the passenger's side. "You are intending to just drop me off? What about the van?"

"I'll drop it off at your place tomorrow morning after I get home."

"But there is some very expensive equipment in the back—"

"I think I can manage to take care of it for a single night."

Having successfully convinced Zexion to entrust his precious van to him, Cloud made short work of dropping the schemer off at his apartment, Demyx meeting them outside in his pajamas in order to help Zexion inside. At that point Leon moved into the front of the van and the two rode in silence to Leon, Zexion, and Riku's base of operations a few blocks away. They had barely pulled up when Axel flung the door open, Sora hot on his heels, demanding to be told how everything went down.

As Cloud filled Axel in, Sora hopped up into the front of the van, squeezing in between Cloud and Leon for the ride back to the Leonharts' home. After a bit of negotiation, Cloud and Axel decided that it would probably work best for Axel to drive Marluxia—who they still had tied up in the back room—to the Traverse Town PD to join the rest of the arrested Organization members on his way out of town. Cloud was thankful that Axel agreed to go along with the plan; the only thing he wanted to do now was sleep.

By the time they got back into the Second District and pulled into the small alleyway adjacent to the Leonhart household it was nearly one o' clock in the morning. Even Sora was tired and the first words out of Leon's mouth as they stumbled through the front door were "Sora, get to bed". Cloud was dubious that it would work but Sora dutifully scampered off to his room, leaving Cloud and Leon standing in the entryway.

Closing and locking the front door, Leon's eyes met Cloud's and Cloud saw nearly every emotion he was feeling being reflected back at him. If anything, seeing the bone-deep weariness on Leon's face just made his own exhaustion feel even more overpowering. But, on closer inspection, Cloud realized that they couldn't go to bed just yet.

"We should shower." Squall released a questioning grunt and Cloud gestured vaguely at the other's face. "You've got blood on you. I'm not sure it's even yours."

"Huh. Can't say you look much cleaner…"

"Yeah."

It was nice, being understood without having to say anything more than a few words. Letting Leon brush by, Cloud followed the soldier as he limped back to the master bedroom. Shutting the door behind them, they wasted no time in stripping out of their torn and blood-stained clothing. Cloud's fingers were shaking as he unstrapped his holster and bullet-proof vest, the bullets from that night still embedded in the padding. Too much had happened within the last few hours. It was hard to even think about it.

Cloud was snapped back to reality as he heard the shower turn on in the attached bath. Leon had left the bathroom door open and Cloud, now fully divested of his ruined clothing, readily accepted the invitation.

There was hardly anything sexual about it as he stepped into the tub behind Leon, relishing the scalding hot temperature of the water as the spray from the shower hit his face. He could feel sweat, gunpowder, and blood washing from his skin, the water from both of their bodies turning a rusty brown by the time it reached the drain.

Leaning forward, Cloud rested his head against Leon's back and let his eyes closed, tempted to just fall asleep then and there. He didn't even move as he felt Leon moving underneath him, the man turning around so that the spray from the shower head was hitting the back of his head and Cloud's brow was pressed against his chest. Only when Leon let out a small grunt of surprise did Cloud force his eyes open again and look up. "…What?"

"I forgot about our bandages."

Blinking, Cloud looked down and realized that while they had taken off their clothes, Leon was right. They had indeed forgotten about the bandages the EMTs had just wrapped them up in. The only reply Cloud could muster up was a shrug and Leon almost laughed. "We'll fix them when we get out…"

The idea of doing anything that took any kind of mental concentration after this made Cloud feel woozy. Unfortunately woozy plus his exhaustion actually led to his knees buckling and, to save himself the embarrassment of fainting, Cloud pulled away from Leon and slid down the tile wall to sit down in the tub.

"You alright?"

After a moment Cloud nodded and blinked as he suddenly found himself level with Leon's legs. The bandages that had been wrapped around them ever since Leon had gotten back from being kidnapped by the Organization were slipping off in the water. For the first time Cloud saw the scars Seifer had told him about, the ones Leon had gotten from getting caught in some sort of explosion while serving time in SeeD.

Leon must have followed his gaze because his voice rumbled down to Cloud, his tone suddenly gruffer. "…Hard to look at?"

This time Cloud shook his head before he scooted forward just far enough to pull off the rest of the old bandages. Once the last piece of gauze had been removed, he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the discolored skin on Leon's shin. "…Not too hard."

A quiet choking noise escaped from Leon before he crouched down until his face was level with Cloud's. Releasing a small noise of his own, Cloud let Leon pull him into a kiss, willing to let it and the steam building up around them carry him off into unconsciousness, just so he wouldn't have to think anymore. Leon didn't let things go quite that far though, pulling away once the need for oxygen grew too great and pressed their water-soaked foreheads together as he caught his breath. "…We should get to bed."

"Hn?"

"We're probably clean enough. And you look like you're about to pass out."

"I feel like it too…"

Their noses bumped together as Leon pulled back and turned the water off before offering Cloud a hand up. Together they climbed out of the shower and clumsily redressed their wounds, stumbled into the next room, pulled on a pair of shorts, and all but collapsed onto the bed.

As Leon pulled him to his chest, Cloud glanced over at the nightstand and spotted his cell phone which he had put there when he had undressed. He should probably stay awake for Seifer's call about Roxas but he could barely keep his eyes open. He was sure Seifer would check on Roxas. He trusted the other man would make sure nothing had happened to his brother.

Settling back into the mattress, Cloud pushed the thought from his mind, giving himself permission to finally get some rest. Unfortunately, his worry for Roxas wasn't the only idea swarming around in his brain. As he lay still under the covers, flashes of images from that night kept resurfacing. What had he done? Was it the right thing? Would the police find out the truth? How was he going to face the Chief when he finally got back to Twilight Town?

Cloud sighed as a pair of lips pressed against the back of his neck, Leon's voice low and deep in his ear. "…What's wrong? We won, you should be happy."

Closing his eyes, Cloud pressed back against Leon, desperate for some contact. He felt so lost, but the warmth from Leon's body grounded him. "…I'm happy with our results today but…I don't…"

Leon wrapped his arms tighter around Cloud's torso. "…Stop thinking and just sleep…we'll deal with everything else in the morning…"

"…Yeah."

OoOoOo

Yawning, Roxas stretched his arms up over his head as the movie they had been watching ended and rolled into the credits. It was almost two in the morning; the film had dragged on longer than he had thought it would. Next to him, Hayner ran his hands over his face and sat up. "That's the last time I let you pick the movie."

Leaning over with only a small wince, Roxas gave his friend a shove. "Shut up. I didn't know it was going to suck."

"No, but seriously, I haven't seen a thriller movie that crappy in a while. I mean, who would really be so dumb as to just let some freak into their house at some ungodly time of nigh—"

Hayner's griping caught in his throat as there was a sudden bang on the front door, followed by a series of quick, demanding knocks. Roxas and Hayner shared a wide-eyed look before Roxas prodded Hayner's leg. "H-hey, go see who it is."

"Are you kidding? You're the cop, you do it!"

"I'm incapacitated."

"That's such bullshit!"

Their fight was cut off by another set of knocks, this time sounding a little angry. Sending Roxas a quick glare, Hayner finally pushed himself up off of the couch and slipped across the room over to the door. Roxas almost felt guilty, but it really did still hurt when he moved around too much. That, and psychotic murders usually didn't knock, so he was pretty sure Hayner was going to be fine.

From where he was sitting, Roxas couldn't see what was going on, but the sounds definitely made it back to him as Hayner opened the door.

"Oh look, you're both here. It's a loser's convention."

That voice sounded familiar but what surprised more was Hayner's absolutely annoyed tone. "Screw you. Why are you here?"

Turning in his seat, Roxas craned his neck to try and see out the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Seifer."

"What?" Suddenly having enough motivation to do so, Roxas pushed himself up and hobbled over only to find that Hayner was right. Seifer Almasy was there, standing on his doorstep. It had been a few years since Roxas had actually seen him, but he looked nearly the same, save for a bit more beaten up than usual. "How'd you find the place?"

Pushing passed both Hayner and Roxas, Seifer stepped inside the apartment. He seemed less lively than Roxas remembered, like he was tired. "Relax. Your brother asked me to check up on you."

Closing the front door so that they wouldn't wake the neighbors, Roxas glared suspiciously up at Seifer. Just because they hadn't seen each other in a while and Seifer clearly wasn't feeling his best didn't make up for the fact that Seifer Almasy had made both Roxas's and Hayner's lives miserable throughout their college years. Roxas couldn't think of a single reason why his brother would have said a single word to his old bully. "Cloud did? Why?"

"Because we just got done busting our asses taking down the bosses of the Organization back in Traverse Town and he was worried something might have happened to you, dumbass."

Roxas launched himself at Seifer as Hayner's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what the hell did you just say?"

"What, they didn't tell you anything?"

Grabbing onto Seifer's jacket, Roxas gave the man a firm shake, ignoring his pains and the fact that he only came up to Seifer's chest height-wise. He wanted information, dammit, and he was going to beat it out of Seifer if he had to! "No, they didn't tell me anything, so start talking!"

Seifer grimaced before brushing Roxas's hands off. "Get off'a me lamer, it's pathetic. Sit down and maybe I'll tell you."

Grudgingly, Roxas shuffled back over to the couch, Seifer and Hayner both following him over and taking a seat beside him. After they had settled in, Seifer launched into a ridiculous summary of events that Roxas could barely make sense of. Hayner just continued to stare as Roxas tried to put two and two together. Had his brother really…?

Filling the silence, Hayner managed to find his voice, his eyes locked on Seifer's face. "Did you really just get back from all that?"

"Yeah."

"How are you still on your feet?"

"Strength of character."

Unamused, Roxas broke in. "So Axel went down to Traverse Town too, right? Where's he know?"

"Hell if I know."

"Seifer!"

"Alright, gods, don't get your panties in a twist, loser. The last I heard Strife was going to go see him after he dropped me off. Assuming the redhead comes back into town after he sees Cloud, he should be back within the next half hour or so. Happy?"

Gripping the fabric of the pajama pants he was wearing, Roxas scowled back at Seifer. "No, I'm not _happy_! As if being stuck at home wasn't enough, now I found out that Cloud and Axel were off pulling a 'Mission Impossible' behind my back? I'm going to kill them!"

"Yeah, good luck with that one. Meanwhile, I'm calling Strife to let him know you're not dead, then I'm going home. I have a bed and a bottle of whiskey waiting for me…"

Hayner scoffed as Seifer pulled out his cell phone. "That's pathetic."

"You're pathetic. Now shut up, the phone's ringing." Roxas watched as Seifer's frown grew deeper and after another seconds he pulled the phone away from his ear with a short growl. "Bastard's not even picking up."

Seeing that he was about to dial again, Roxas jerked forward and grabbed his cell phone. "You jerk, if he's not picking up, he's asleep!"

"So?"

"So, let them sleep! You more than anyone should know that Cloud deserves a break after what you all just did!"

All three of them jumped a little as the phone in Roxas's hand suddenly rang. Snatching it back, Seifer flipped it open. "Strife?" Roxas couldn't hear whoever was on the other line but Roxas could tell that whoever it was wasn't his brother by the way Seifer's dull eyes lit up a bit. "Funny you should call, chicken wuss."

At the sound of his old nickname, Hayner snapped to the defensive and glared at Seifer. "Hey! I told you not to call me that!"

"Not _you_." Reaching out, Seifer absently ruffled Hayner's hair, causing Roxas's friend to blush such a fierce red that Roxas had to wonder if it was all from embarrassment. "Shit, I'm surrounded by chicken wusses." Turning back to his phone call, Seifer leaned back in his seat. "Zell, you know it's like two in the morning here? You're lucky I'm up. But listen, have I got a story for you."

Sighing, Roxas rested his head in his hands and rubbed at his forehead. It looked like he was getting to bed any time soon after all.

* * *

The night passed by much too quickly for Cloud after he had fallen asleep. It had only seemed like a minute had passed before he had been forced up and out of the house in order to finish giving his statement to the Traverse Town Police Department. Afterwards he had immediately taken the train back to Twilight Town only to find that news of what had happened had traveled faster than he had.

Now Cloud found himself sitting outside on the steps of the Twilight Town precinct, staring out at the red and orange colors beginning to gather on the western horizon. The last few hours had been…tough.

Looking up as the sound of a motorcycle reached his ears, Cloud blinked and spotted Leon pulling up. Even with his face hidden underneath his helmet, his leather jacket and figure were unmistakable. Letting out a long breath, Cloud stayed right where he was and let Leon come to him, the brunette's eyes concerned as pulled his helmet off and stiffly climbed up the stairs to meet him. "Cloud. I got your message. I—"

Cloud stopped Leon with a soft shake of his head. He wasn't in the mood to listen to excuses or apologies. "Just…don't talk to me right now, Leon."

Leon paused then silently just lowered himself down onto the step beside Cloud, just close enough so that their shoulders brushed together. Swallowing, Cloud once again drew what strength he could from the slight contact as he remembered the conversation he had had with the Chief not an hour earlier. It made his heart hurt just thinking about it…

"_It wasn't a raid, Strife, it was a blood bath._"

_Cloud had straightened up in his chair as he sat across from Auron. _"_But no one was killed! Except for Xemnas, but there was definitely enough cause to use deadly force there—_"

"_Cloud. I'm not—" Auron sighed and rested his hands down on his desk. He looked worn-out. "I'm not trying to antagonize you, Detective. In your place, I would've done exactly the same thing, had I stumbled into the situation. In my opinion, you're a hero. But the problem is that not everyone sees it the same way. Reporters are already up in arms about this whole thing and I'm worried about what they might find if they begin to dig around." _

_Cloud's shoulders tensed as Auron met his eyes with a searching gaze. He knew what the Chief really wanted to ask: Was there anything about this that Cloud wouldn't want the entire world to know about? Like, say, a collaboration with known thieves and murders or blatant pre-meditation without proper police authorization? Something like that could ruin not on Cloud's career, but the reputation of the entire Twilight Town Police Department, no matter how good the results of his actions had been. _

_Swallowing, Cloud closed his eyes. He knew what he had to say, and it was killing him. "S-sir, I think I'd like permission to, to retire from the Department." _

_Auron's expression grew pained and it made Cloud feel a little better to know that the Chief at least was on his side. "Cloud, you know if you stayed on, I and the other boys would do everything we could to protect you from any repercussions." _

_Releasing another breath, Cloud nodded. "I know. But, with all due respect, I'd rather retire with a little bit of my honor left instead of waiting for the public to force you to fire me." _

"_If that's what you want…we'll do it your way. I'll…take your badge then, Detective."_

"_Ah, y-yeah."_

"_I'm sorry boy."_

"…_Thank you, sir."_

Shaking himself from his memories, Cloud realized that he was leaning up against Leon. His first instinct was to pull away but after a moment he admitted that it was just too nice to give up. He didn't know how long they had been sitting like that but since Leon didn't seem to mind Cloud wasn't going to care either.

"Sorry, Leon. Um…" Trying to think of anything he could talk about without falling apart, Cloud latched onto a new topic. "How's Riku doing?"

Shifting on the concrete step, Cloud felt Leon gave a shrug. "Not…good. He called Sora this morning. He'll live, but the doctors apparently told him there's not much they can do about his eyesight. It turned out that flash grenade didn't literally detonate in his face, but it was close enough that the light, plus the force of the explosion, did some pretty good damage. He said something about retinal detachment, I don't know. Either way, he can barely see. Legally blind."

"Will it heal?"

"They're not sure. Maybe, maybe not…Sora's pretty shaken up."

Cloud frowned. "Leon, if you need to go back home, you don't need to stay out here just for me."

"It's fine. Sora's visiting Riku at the hospital now. I'd rather be here."

The corner of Cloud's lips quirked up in a small, sick smile. After another few moments of quiet, Leon spoke back up. "…Can I ask you something?"

Cloud was a little scared of what Leon would ask, but at this point, what did he really have to lose? "Sure, why not."

"Why do you call me 'Leon' still?"

Blinking in surprise, Cloud thought over Leon's question before his smile grew just slightly into something a little stronger. "Because 'Cloud and Squall' sounds like a bad weather report." His reply earned him a small, amused snort from Leon and Cloud continued. "Besides…Leon suits you."

"It's the name of a criminal."

Looking over, Cloud found that Leon's eyes were already on him and noticed that this was something that Leon was really serious about. Maybe "Squall" and "Leon" was an important distinction to him, but for Cloud Leon would always be "Leon". "Squall" was what Sora called him. "Squall" was someone Cloud didn't know. "'Leon' is the name of the stubborn, homicidal, master criminal who I was stupid enough to fall in love with."

Squall stared at him for a long moment, his grey eyes flashing, before his lips curled up into a smirk. "…_Master_ criminal, huh?"

The sight caused Cloud's smile to spread further across his face, the expression definitely not fading as Squall reached up to gently tug him closer. "I think you kind of missed the point …"

Cloud's voice faded away as Leon pressed their lips together. Sighing into the kiss, Cloud reached his own hands up to pull Leon closer still and their kiss deepened. He needed this. He had just lost one of the most important parts of himself. Now that Cloud could no longer call himself a detective, he barely knew who he was anymore.

Their moment was interrupted as the doors to the station opened and Cloud heard a familiar voice cut through the mood. "Woah, hey! Definitely not something I want to see."

Pulling away from Leon, Cloud glared up at Axel, who had gotten back into town late last night, and the redhead's expression softened. "Cloud, I heard and, I'm sorry. I am. I, know how much this job meant to you. It doesn't seem fair that _you're_ the one who has to quit."

Cloud felt depression welling back up in his chest but quelled it by glancing back over at Leon. "I did what I had to do. I don't have any regrets."

Axel didn't quite looked like he believed him, but let it go, which Cloud was infinitely glad for. "Well…good…" Clearing his throat, his old partner scratched the back of his head. "Do you…have any idea what you're going to do now?"

Cloud fell silent before his gaze landed on Squall again and he was struck with sudden inspiration as a spark flashed through his crystal blue eyes. "I might have some ideas…"

The redhead looked surprised at his change in tone. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Turning so that he was fully facing Leon, Cloud's smile returned to his face. "How would you feel about going into the private detecting business, Leon?"

Leon paused before a small smile lit his own face. "I think…I could get used to the idea."

"As partners?"

"Yeah, definitely."

O

O

O

OoOoOo

Oh my gosh, it's over! Or is it…? The answer is: both! That's the end of the story, but now because you guys have been so awesome, I'm going to let you pick what you want to read as I am gifting you a Bonus Chapter! (perhaps even multiple ones if I find more than one idea irresistible) Here is how things are gonna work. In your reviews, feel free to suggest one idea for what you'd like to see in the bonus chapter, taking into consideration that:

-It's got to concern this story. Obviously.

-It has to be rated T for teen, cause I'm not bumping this sucker up to M.

-It's going to be a oneshot. Keep that in mind

But the subject will be up to you. If there's anything you wanted expanded upon or any idea that just sounds super-fun, speak up. It can concern the past, the present, the future, or just be a pairing you'd like to see more of.

It's time for you dudes to get your real say in things. So tell me what you want to read. I'll be open to any idea! Whatever gets the most votes (or whatever I like best…) you'll get to see it! :D


	21. Bonus Chapter 1

Alright! First bonus chapter done! And yes, I did say _first_. Because you dudes just gave me too many awesome ideas, I have decided that the only way for me to deal with it is to write *drumroll* three bonus chapters in total. I won't be able to fit in all of your awesome suggestions, but I'll do my best to hit the most requested subjects. I need people to write fanfictions of my fanfiction. XD Oh, and I know that the last chapter (or the story's end) seemed abrupt to a lot of you, but I only did that because I knew that I'd be writing at least two bonus chapters to go along with it. Hopefully my strategy didn't ruin the story for any of you. ^^;

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave suggestions for the bonus chapters: a-chan, TOC, .Jeh. Cerbie., RkM4U, Mahon, LizzyAlmasy, Stellar Eclipse, nearcreature, Kareian, Cloudia119, Shinimegami7, ramen-is-my-goddess, HibaTsunaKuro, Tsubasa-Faye, Mirror and Darkling, Oreo, egyptian1995, PhotoKitty, LuxAeterna1020, Pyro. Ahlex, ChaosGarden, Alpha Kan't Spell, BlackCatHikari, Twilight Emo Wind Goddess, YumiStar, MeykoLove, shrouded-obsession, Lady Chicobo, Aindel S. Druida, Phoenix To Flame, BRP, ConverseG1rl, Becca86, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, xacilia, and Dee! Holy cow, that's a lot of names! You dudes rock! :D

O

* * *

Bonus Chapter #1: Epilogue

* * *

Squall slowly woke up, the comforting weight and warmth of his bed-partner luring him in and out of consciousness. His eyes finally flickered open as he felt Cloud shift in his sleep, the man letting out a small moan as he nestled further back into Squall's hold. A soft smirk spread across Squall's lips at the sound and he leaned forward to press his face against Cloud's shoulder. The digital alarm clock over the blonde's shoulder said it was only seven in the morning; they had plenty of time to laze around a little before they needed to get up.

Nearly a year had passed since he and Cloud had started up their P.I. business and Squall would readily admit that one of the best parts of the job was that they got to decide their own hours, though they usually overworked themselves anyway. It was a new experience for him and having the same schedule as Cloud meant that they got to spend more time together. Of course, it also helped that after Cloud had quit his job at the Twilight Town Police Department it had only taken two weeks before he decided to move in permanently with Squall and Sora in Traverse Town. Besides all the benefits it had for their relationship, it made sense as they were likely to get more business in Traverse Town than sleepy little Twilight Town.

Almost as if Cloud could feel Squall thinking about him, the blonde shifted again and began to wake. "Mn…Leon…?"

Lips pressed against Cloud's skin, Squall let out more of a rumble than a real question. "Hm?"

"What time's it?"

Pulling away just enough to speak, Squall tightened his grip around Cloud's waist. "Only about seven."

Between his body language and his tone of voice, Squall hoped Cloud would get the message he was trying to send. Luckily his business partner was perceptive. Unluckily it seemed like he wasn't about to give in so easily.

Sleepily rolling his eyes, Cloud squirmed around in Squall's arms until they were facing each other. "…I thought I got this out of your system last night."

Squall snorted at the comment and leaned in again, this time to connect their lips in a quick kiss, his voice a husky murmur as they separated. "As I remember it, you were the one who started things last night."

The blonde's blue eyes softened before narrowing again as Squall's hands drifted lower over his hips. "We don't have time to—"

Stealing his voice with another kiss, Squall rolled on top of the other man, the blankets twisting around their legs as he smirked down at Cloud. "I looked at the schedule before going to bed last night. We don't have anything set up until noon."

Cloud huffed, but his true feeling showed as Squall nipped at the point where his neck met his shoulder and a low moan escaped him. A deep, low chuckle left Squall as Cloud gave in, knowing that he had been found out. As the blonde arched up against him one hand reached up to grab at Squall's longer hair, pulling him back up into a kiss.

This, just like this with tongues and skin brushing together, tangled up in the sheets, was perfect. There was no confusion, no hesitation or resistance; they both knew exactly where they stood with the other. Squall had never thought that he had ever wanted a relationship, certainly nothing this deep, but now it was hard to think of how he'd make do without Cloud by his side. He had been afraid at first that without the tension between them working on different sides of the law some of the spark would be lost but that hadn't been the case. Somewhere down the line, Squall had fallen for Cloud himself, not just the thrill of the unattainable that Squall used to feel around him. He was pretty sure that Cloud felt the same towards him, if his actions were anything to go by.

Squall was startled from his thoughts as Cloud's grip tightened on his arm and he suddenly found himself being rolled over onto his back, Cloud flipping them so that he was on top. The blonde smirked down at his surprised expression, the look in his blue eyes almost predatory, and Squall loved it. "Don't think I'm going to let you keep us in here until noon though."

Smiling up at him, Squall pulled him back down so that Cloud's body was resting on top of his under the sheets. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Cloud's smirk spread and he ran his fingers back through Squall's hair, pulling his bangs away from his face. Leaning down as Squall ran his hands down Cloud's sides, Cloud pressed a kiss against the scar between Squall's eyes before moving his lips down to his ex-parolee's jawline.

Just when Squall was pretty sure Cloud was going to leave a bruise on his skin, they both started as Cloud's cell phone suddenly started ringing on the bedside table. Without a second thought, Cloud blindly swept a hand over and knocked the phone off of the nightstand, never once so much as pausing in his ministrations. Squall let out a small laugh as he heard the cell phone clatter to the ground and roll under the bed. Things had definitely changed.

OoOoOo

When Squall and Cloud finally made it out of the back bedroom, it was nearly ten o' clock. Having showered and pulled on a pair of dark-wash jeans and a white tank-top, Squall strolled into the kitchen only to find that it was already occupied.

Looking up from his bowl of cereal, Sora blinked up at Squall. That's right, it was Saturday; Sora had probably slept in. "'Morning."

"Hey, Sor…" Running a hand through his damp hair, Squall wandered over to the fridge. He should probably make something for him and Cloud to eat before they went out to work.

Sora glanced over at Cloud as he trailed into the kitchen, hair damp as well and dressed in a tight navy blue t-shirt and a pair of black pants. A sly smile spread across the teen's face, his eyes dancing playfully. "Busy night?"

Rolling his eyes, Squall pulled out a carton of milk. Ever since he and Sora had had that fight right before Sora had gotten kidnapped, Squall was doing his best to be the older brother Sora had asked for, not the father neither of them had really wanted to replace. Of course, that had the side-effect of Sora treating him more like a brother than a father; having his little brother tease him wasn't out of the ordinary anymore. Which gave Squall the right to tease him back. "Busy morning."

Cloud blushed as Sora pulled a face. "Too much information, Squall!"

"Then don't ask." Glancing over his shoulder, Squall caught Cloud's eyes as the blonde sat down at the kitchen table next to Sora. "Are pancakes alright?"

After accepting the newspaper Sora handed him with a small smile, Cloud nodded up at Squall. "Sure, that'd be great."

"Hey, you're making pancakes? Make me some!"

Squall snorted as he pulled a mixing bowl out of the cupboard. "You're already eating."

"I didn't know you were going to make pancakes! I can make room. Please?"

"Fine, alright."

Squall scowled as Cloud chuckled under his breath as he gave in. Even with everything had happened and the change in their relationship, there were two things that would never change. The first was his inability to deny Sora anything he asked. Even though he had already turned eighteen, Sora could still make a puppy face that put actual puppies to shame. The second thing of course was his protective instincts for Sora, though they had toned down, still hadn't faded. And that fact was currently causing him to go through a slight personal crisis because, with only two weeks of school left, Sora was about to graduate high school. And then he was going to college. Out of state.

Shaking the thought away, Squall focused on his task of making breakfast. Maybe repressing thoughts he didn't like wasn't the best way to cope, but it had worked for him so far—more or less. Letting his mind go blank, his body worked on automatic and before he knew it he was placing a plate full of warm pancakes down on the kitchen table.

Murmuring his thanks, Cloud shuffled some of the hotcakes onto his own plate without looking up from the paper. It was obvious that something had caught his attention. "Interesting news day?"

Cloud put the newspaper down and spread it across the remaining open space on the table. "Nothing big. Remember that case we worked three weeks ago?"

Leaning over his plate, Squall scanned the front page to try and see what article had caught Cloud's eye. Meanwhile, Sora hurried to get a plate of his own from the cupboard so that he could sneak a pancake or two for himself. "You mean the one with the woman asking us to find her husband?"

"Right." The case had started out as a general missing persons situation. There had been no sign of foul play so that police couldn't really follow any leads. For all they knew, the husband had just gotten tired of his life and ran away. It happened more often than people suspected. But the woman, desperate for answers, had stumbled across Squall and Cloud's P.I. business and hired them to keep looking. What really made it an interesting case though was that it turned out that the woman was actually an important figure on the Traverse Town City Council and some of her desperation to find her husband stemmed from her not wanting to lose face with the public.

Reaching out over his plate, Cloud tapped a small column of print towards the bottom of the page as Sora sat back down across the table. "It looks like the fact that her husband left her finally reached reporters."

"Huh." Squall scanned the article but it didn't say anything he didn't know already. After a bit of hard work, he and Cloud had managed to track the husband down. He was, in fact, alive and the police had been right all along; he had actually just gotten so sick of his wife's career in politics and the way that it had changed her that he had left town. He had done it in an effort to save her from the embarrassment of a divorce, though in the end his sudden disappearance probably only made things worse. It hadn't been easy breaking it to the wife. It was probably a good thing that they were paid in advance for that job. "Let's hope our current job works out a little better."

Scoffing, Cloud jabbed his fork into his pancakes. "Somehow I doubt it."

Squall glanced once at his brother and sent him a quick warning glare as the younger Leonhart stacked up three pancakes onto his plate. If he let his guard down, Sora would eat them all up before Squall and Cloud had a chance to get their fair share. Catching the look Squall sent him, Sora swallowed a bite before giving him an innocent look. "What's your new case about?"

Not fooled for a second, Squall nevertheless allowed Sora to change the subject. He had wanted to talk to Cloud about this anyway. "Someone contacted us, worried that their friend was getting into some serious illegal activity. He didn't say what, but wants us to follow the kid around for a while, just to make sure he's staying out of trouble." Swallowing a bite of food, Squall turned to Cloud. "What do you think he's getting into?"

The blonde shrugged noncommittally. "_If_ he's up to anything at all, there's no telling what sort of activity he's getting into. The crime world still hasn't finished sorting itself out."

When the Organization had collapsed with the death of its leader, the criminal underworld had been thrown into virtual chaos. It seemed that the small-time felons had been repressed under the Organization's reign and now, instead of larger, connected crimes, small, minor crimes had broken out throughout all the near-by cities. The police had been kept busy but the consequences of the criminal activity for the public had been drastically changed for the better. There was no more city-wide blackmail or corruption and the police had an easier time catching and convicting this new brand of criminal.

Sora's brows drew up in worry. "It won't be dangerous, will it?"

It was Squall's turn to shrug. "I can't say for sure. Probably not though; we'll just be on stakeout today."

"Good."

Just like Squall still worried about Sora, Sora still worried about Squall's job, although he obviously felt better about his brother working with Cloud on the right side of the law than he had when Squall was working with Zexion and Riku.

Anxiety subsiding, Sora finished his pancakes before Squall even finished half of his own portion. As he pushed his plate away though, something in the news caught his eye and a huge grin spread across his tanned face. Reaching across the table, Sora jabbed excitedly at another column of text in the newspaper. "Squall, look! They wrote a story about how my class is going to rent out the convention center downtown for our graduation party!"

And suddenly Squall had lost his appetite. Pushing his own plate away, he crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to show any of the emotions currently assaulting his brain on his face. "Probably to warn local shop owners about the hordes of hyped-up teenagers coming their way."

Sora's smile widened jokingly. "Yeah, probably." His blue eyes focused back on the article and his expression softened. "I'm really excited about it though. It's probably the last time I'm going to see most of my friends for a while."

Squall was only able to manage a stiff nod in response. He knew that the upcoming school party meant a lot to Sora, which was partly why he hadn't protested when Sora asked if he could attend the late-night event. It probably was the last time he would see his classmates for quite some time. Sora had gotten a full-ride scholarship to the University of Destiny Islands and despite both Leonhart's hesitations of Sora moving so far away, it was just too good of an opportunity for him to pass up.

More than that though, whenever Sora's upcoming graduation was mentioned Squall was affected just as strongly by an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. Honestly, there had been more than a few times when Squall had never thought that Sora would make it to high school graduation due to his childhood illness, not to mention his run-ins with the Organization. Squall never once took for granted that Sora had made it through to experience it, and in fact was doing better than ever now.

As he came out of his thoughts, Squall mentally cursed as he felt his eyes burning slightly from unshed tears. His hopes that no one noticed were shattered as Cloud looked up from the newspaper and a small smirk spread across the man's face. "You're going to make Leon cry, Sora."

Sora blinked and he leaned over the table to peer at Squall's face. "Really?" Squall growled a small warning as he quickly blinked any moisture away, but it was too late. Sora had seen.

A kind, almost understanding smile lit up his little brother's face. "You're going to have to let me grow up sometime, Squall!"

Growling again, Squall shook his head. "It's not that. It's just…never mind. Whatever."

Any follow-up remarks Sora had were cut off by a sharp knock on the front door. Happy to have any excuse to leave the table, Squall jumped to his feet before either of the others could. "I'll get it." Besides, he had a good idea of who was at the door and, if he was right, he could really use the chance to take out some of his frustrations on the visitor.

Walking out of the kitchen and into the front room, Squall wrenched open the front door just as another round of knocks echoed throughout the house. Squall's suspicions were confirmed as the door swung open to reveal none other than Riku standing on his welcome mat.

The silver-haired man was dressed in baggy blue jeans, a black tank top, and a white vest with his hair hanging loose, the look completed by a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes. The cane he was supposed to use to feel out his path was resting carelessly on his shoulder, a smug grin on his face. "Well? Are you going to invite me in or not, Leon?"

Squall grunted but grudgingly stepped aside. "Does it really matter? You'll come in anyway."

"True."

Slipping inside the Leonhart house, Riku strolled right into the kitchen. He had apparently memorized the layout of the house long before he had gone blind and had little trouble navigating his way around. That is, unless Squall accidentally on purpose moved some furniture around while cleaning. Sora usually kept such incidences unfortunately rare.

Squall followed at his old accomplice's heels and caught Riku sniffing the air. "You just ate breakfast?"

"So?"

"It's like ten in the morning, right? What were you doing all morning?"

Squall scowled. "I was in bed."

Riku let out a small snort of amusement. "Ever since Cloud stopped working for the popo, you two have way too much time on your hands."

Squall's response was cut off as they rounded the corner into the kitchen and Sora popped up from his chair, a blinding smile back on his face. "Riku!"

"Hey, Sor."

Fighting off the urge to gag as Sora practically threw himself at Riku, Squall took his seat with a disgusted grimace on his face. Cloud, who had until then pretty much ignored Riku's arrival, gave Squall a sympathetic look and bumped their legs together under the table. More than a comfort, that particular contact was more of a warning not to commit manslaughter.

Riku's voice made it a hard temptation to resist though as the silver-haired man finally pulled far enough away from Sora to speak. "So, if you're free I thought we could hang out for a bit."

Breaking into their conversation, Squall scowled up at Riku. "And where exactly would you be going?" Even though Sora was now legally an adult, Squall still wasn't ready to stop trying to control his personal life. Especially when most of that personal life outside of the home revolved around Riku.

Squall was sure that Riku rolled his eyes from behind his sunglasses. "Not that it should matter to you, but I was thinking that we could go see that new movie that just came out. Sora's been talking about it for weeks."

Sora's smile, if possible, widened. "Wow, really!"

As his face turned away from the older Leonhart and toward the younger, a small smile of his own passed over Riku's lips. "Yeah, really. Maybe we can get some dinner after. Sound good?"

"That sounds great!"

Scoffing, Squall leaned back in his chair. "I don't think so."

Sora spun around, a frustrated frown on his lips. "Come on, Squall!"

"Yeah, come on." Squall's hands twitched slightly as Riku flung his arm over Sora's shoulders. He didn't get the urge as often anymore, but right now he _really _wanted to beat that smug look off of Riku's face. "What's the big deal? I'll pay and everything."

Unable to come up with any reason that wouldn't piss Sora off even more, Squall quickly switched attack strategies as Riku's flippant comment brought even more questions to mind. "How do you still have money to do all these things anyway?"

"I'm on disability, remember?" Riku reached up with his free hand and tapped on his sunglasses. "Because I'm blind, I get a check in the mail every month at the tax payers' expense."

This time it was Cloud who let out a small noise of annoyance. "Tax payer's money shouldn't be supporting convicts unless they're in jail."

Riku's smirk widened. "But that's the beauty of it. Now that the TTPD dropped the charges against us, I've never been convicted, so, technically I'm an innocent citizen."

After they had taken down the Organization, they had found the definitive proof they needed that Judge Peters, the man who sentenced Squall, Riku, and Zexion to prison, was in fact working with the Organization. Because of that, the Twilight Town Police Department had overturned the verdict of the trial and the incident was wiped from their files. Though Squall was happy that he had a clean—well, clean-ish—record again, he didn't know how he felt about Zexion and Riku, two dangerous career criminals, getting the same treatment. But they've had that conversation before and now wasn't the time to bring it back up. "I know you're getting more money than just your disabilities pay each month, Riku, so where's that coming from?"

Sora tilted his head back to look at his—a shiver ran down Squall's spine at the thought—boyfriend, apparently curious to know Riku's answer as well. But like any good criminal, Riku was an expert at being evasive. "Oh, you know. Here and there."

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Riku…"

Letting out a rough sigh, Riku pulled his arm off from around Sora's shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest. "What? I'm blind, remember? How much trouble do you think I can get into these days?"

"I don't like to think about it." Although Riku had sulked around for a month or two after he had lost most of his vision, he had slowly begun to bounce back. Squall was sure that part of that was due to Sora's influence, but he was also just as sure that Riku had also figured out ways to dip his toes back into the criminal world, even though he definitely lost his niche as a sniper. He didn't know how or what the ex-assassin was doing, but to say that Riku was harmless now that he was blind would've been a grave underestimation of the silver-haired man's skills and tenacity. So far, he seemed to be behaving himself but, even with Sora in the picture, Squall didn't completely trust that Riku would steer completely clear of the criminal world.

But as of now, all Squall had was hunches and gut-feelings, neither of which were strong enough to counter-act the pout Sora was sending his way. Squall was never excited about them spending any more time than necessary together, but until he had some solid evidence that Riku was getting his hands dirty, he really had no excuse to keep Sora away from him. "….Fine, whatever. But Sora, I want you back at a decent hour. You're not quite graduated yet and you still have homework to do…"

Sora's whole face brightened before he suddenly perked up. "Oh! That reminds me!" Dashing back over to the kitchen table, Sora snatched up the newspaper and hurried back over to Riku. "There's an article about my school in today's paper!"

"Really? Read it to me."

Sora grinned and quickly launched straight into it after describing the small picture that accompanied the article to Riku. Just as Sora finished the first sentence of the story, Squall saw Cloud looking up at the clock.

"What is it?"

Realizing he had been caught, Cloud released a soft sigh. "I was just thinking that before we get too far into this new investigation, I should probably dig up as much information as I can get on our guy. But since noon is in an hour, it doesn't look like I'll have the time."

Squall followed Cloud's gaze to the clock before a soft, thoughtful frown slipped onto his face. "If you want, you can go ahead and take care of that and I can just start the stakeout by myself."

"You would be okay with that?"

Squall tossed the blonde a look. "I think I can manage stalking a guy for a few hours."

Cloud returned the look, their eyes locking as Cloud's blue ones seemed to search Squall's soul. Finally, the ex-detective let out a small snort. "Fine. But don't get into anything dangerous while I'm gone."

Just like Squall didn't completely trust Riku still, Squall wondered if Cloud didn't completely believe that he had put his criminal life behind him either. Or at least Cloud thought that he was prone to bouts of impulsive stupidity if put in the right situations. "Don't worry, I'll wait until you get back to start the gunfight."

Cloud rolled his eyes as he pushed out his chair. "Don't even joke about it."

Smirking, Squall watched as Cloud shook his head and headed back to the bedroom to get ready to go. Meanwhile, Sora kept on reading the news article about his school's graduation article to Riku who either was actually interested in what the smaller brunette was saying or was a really good actor. Without Cloud here to distract him, Squall's annoyance returned in full-force and he knew he would have to find something to do if Riku was going to leave without some bruises.

* * *

By the time Cloud had dried his hair, jumped in his car, and driven out to Twilight Town it was nearly one in the afternoon. It was hard knowing that Leon was already out there at work while he was in an entirely different town, but they really needed to get some more information on the subject of their investigation before they got too far into it. Cloud was just happy that he was able to drive instead having to ride the train, which would've taken even longer. After he had moved in with Leon and Sora, he had finally managed to find a replacement car for the one that had been blown up by Lexaeus so many months ago. He had been holding out and, after some friendly pestering, had finally been able to purchase one of Traverse Town PD's old police cruisers after they got a few new squad cars. It of course had been repainted, but the sense of familiarity and confidence it gave Cloud had definitely been worth the wait.

Having memorized the route long ago, Cloud barely had to pay attention as he navigated his car to the Twilight Town Police Department. As he pulled into to the parking lot, the instinct to pull into his old spot was a hard one to resist. Grudgingly steering his car into a "visitor's" parking space, Cloud stepped out and scanned the rest of the cars in the lot. Good. Axel was in.

Taking the steps up to the precinct two at a time, Cloud tried his best to keep his head down as he slipped into the police station. It wasn't that people didn't like him there anymore; on the contrary, the rest of the police officers and detectives were quite fond of him. And he occasionally abused that fondness by asking for favors not usually granted to private investigators. The less he was noticed, the less the police department would notice those little slips in protocol.

Giving the secretaries a quick nod, Cloud headed back immediately to his old office. Which of course wasn't his office anymore. It was Axel's and Axel's new partner: Roxas. Cloud would've been a little happier that his little brother had so quickly been promoted to detective if he hadn't had to lose his job to make it happen.

Reaching the office's closed door, Cloud saw a flash of red and realized that Axel was alone. Knocking once, Cloud smirked as Axel jumped in surprise before his green eyes flashed up to the door. He looked tired and there was a stack of papers at least a foot high sitting next to him on his desk. Cloud missed his job, but paperwork was definitely something that he was happy to leave behind.

The redhead sighed as he saw who it was and, after grabbing a cup of coffee that had been hiding behind the stack of paper, pushed himself up from his seat and walked around to the door. Cloud offered him a small smile as Axel opened the door. "Hey."

Axel leaned against the doorframe and Cloud could see some dark circles under his eyes. He and Roxas must've just finished a tough case then. "Cloud? Seriously? How about you go bug your local public servants for a change?"

The smile on Cloud's face slid back into a smirk. "The Traverse Town PD never lets me get away with half the stuff you guys do."

Axel gave him an unamused look and for a second Cloud thought that he was going to be turned away. Then Axel let out another sigh and waved him inside, closing the office door behind them. As his old partner went to sit back his desk, Cloud stole Roxas's seat, his old seat. The arrangement seemed so natural it was almost painful. "What do you want? I have to get back to work."

Absently picking at some of the papers on his brother's desk, Cloud met Axel's eyes. "I need information about the case I'm working on. Collin Hudson."

Axel raised a thin brow. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

"No. I want you to look it up for me, see if there's anything on him in the records." Cloud would've requested them from Traverse Town PD, but it would've taken forever and his request probably would've been denied anyway. The general public just didn't have access to the sorts of resources he was used to.

"Oh for—ask your brother! He's down making some copies right now, he'll be back in a few minutes."

"No way, Roxas would bite my head off."

Axel shrugged then let out a small grunt of agreement. As it turned out the person in the whole precinct who got on Cloud's case the most for using their resources wasn't Axel or even the Chief, it was Roxas. He never did anything to keep Cloud from coming, but he sure liked to bitch about it. Cloud was pretty sure that it was mostly due to the fact that they were brothers and reveled in getting on each other's cases about things. "Fine, go ask Zexion then."

Cloud bristled a bit. "I'd rather you did it for me."

Now it was Axel's turn to smirk. "Beggars can't be choosers. I have a stack of paperwork two feet high I need to get back to."

"So I see. Sounds fun."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Shut up…" Though Cloud was being sarcastic, they both knew that Cloud would rather be stuck doing paperwork and be let back on the force than be stuck in the private sector for the rest of his life. Perhaps remembering this, Axel's expression softened. "Anyway, after you finish up with Zexion, come back to my office. You're going to buy me and Roxas lunch."

Grateful as the mood lightened, Cloud leaned back. "What, you think I'm rich?"

Axel grinned. "I know you make more these days than we do."

Standing up, Cloud stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah, but only when we get a job. Besides, I have to get right back to Leon after this, so I'll have to owe you one."

"Oh? Right back to Leon, huh? What are you up to?"

Knowing that Axel's mind had just slipped into the gutter, Cloud scowled. "Not what you're thinking. We planned a stakeout today and it started about an hour ago."

"Man, that was the most unentertaining answer ever. But fine. Next time you come into town, me and Roxy will expect you to be paying for some food."

Cloud waved as he walked to the door. "Sounds fair. If Zexion doesn't help, I'm coming back in here for some answers."

"Sure. See you around."

With another wave, Cloud stepped out of the office and his shoulder's fell a little. Great…he hated asking Zexion for help.

After everything that had happened, Roxas and Axel somehow managed to agree and convince the Chief that hiring Zexion onto the police force as a tech specialist would be a good idea. When Cloud had asked—more like yelled at—Axel about it, he said it kept him off the streets. Plus the redhead figured that with Zexion's skills he would be able to hack into the police system any time he wanted anyway, so he might as well take the risk of letting Zexion put his skills to some good use. And as much as Cloud hated to admit it, Zexion was useful. But if had still been on the force, Zexion only would've been working in the station over Cloud's dead body. It was a little upsetting to know that Zexion could have a job there while Cloud couldn't, but Cloud knew that it was more about the differences in their prospective positions and was trying not to take it personally.

Zexion had been set up in a little cubicle down the hall from Axel's office, near where the IT staff was located. Cloud didn't even bother knocking this time, just walked straight into Zexion's work area, finding Zexion himself typing some unintelligible code into the computer. The slim man barely even looked back as Cloud stepped in but it was clear that Zexion instantly had the situation figured out. Sometimes he was too smart for his own good. "May I help you?"

Pressing a hand against his forehead, Cloud felt a headache coming on. He _really_ hated asking Zexion for anything. "It's still just…so _wrong_."

Finally Zexion's fingers paused and he turned in his seat to face Cloud, one brow raised. "Why Detective, I am surprised. It is as if you do not trust me." Zexion was the only person who still addressed Cloud as "Detective". Besides being scarily good at his job, it was one of the felon's few redeeming qualities.

"Not in a million years, Zexion."

"Ah," Zexion reached around Cloud to tap at the name plate attached to the outside of his cubicle. "It is Ienzo here, Detective. And do not worry," pulling his arm back, Zexion straightened up in his chair and gave Cloud a small, smug smile, "I am behaving myself. For now." Cloud's headache suddenly got worse. "Either way, how may be of service?"

Sighing, Cloud tried to push all the bad thoughts aside. He had work to do. "I need you to run the name Collin Hudson through the system."

"Doable." Spinning his chair back around, Zexion had the name entered before Cloud could even blink. "I suppose the results will provide some information for a new case you and Leon are working on?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Yes. You don't need to get too curious."

"Relax, Detective. I was simply starting conversation. Besides, every now and again I become curious as to what is happening back in Traverse Town. Riku hardly tells me anything useful anymore."

"I'll have to thank him for that." When by whatever miracle Zexion had gotten his job at the police station, he and Demyx had decided to move out of Traverse Town. When Axel had gotten wind of it, he immediately offered to rent them the old farmhouse he had been living in, and they had accepted. Zexion was happy because not only was it closer to his new job but it was isolated and out of the public eye. Demyx was happy because, although he had to find a new job in Twilight Town, he and his band could use the garage to practice in without having to worry about any neighbors complaining about the noise. Axel was happy because that meant that he had an excuse to move in with Roxas. And Cloud just found the whole cooperating-with-felons thing too strange to be comfortable. Not that he could talk since he had moved in and was sleeping with one…

Cloud was pulled from his thoughts as Zexion let out a small hum. "It seems your Mr. Hudson does indeed have a prior record, but he does not seem to be associated with anything too impressive. Shall I print off his rap sheet for you?"

"Sure." As Zexion pressed 'print', Cloud folded his arms over his chest. "I figure you don't recognize the kid's name?"

"No, I have never heard of him. However, I do recognize the name of one of the men the police have apparently associated him with." Zexion scrolled the screen down to a small paragraph of information on Collin Hudson's profile. "This man here is a small-time arms dealer. I have heard Xigbar mention him a few times…"

Cloud leaned in to read the text over Zexion's shoulder. Their case had just become a little more interesting. "Is he someone to worry about?"

"I would not worry. _You_ might, however."

"Great. Thanks."

Zexion pulled a small stack of papers from the printer and handed them to Cloud. "You are welcome. Is there anything else?"

"No. This is all I need for now."

"Then kindly let me get back to my work."

* * *

Squall was sitting down on a bench downtown when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Without ever taking his eyes off of the object of their stakeout, Collin Hudson, who was eating some fast food across the plaza, Squall pulled his phone out and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"_Hey, it's me. I got what we need and am heading back now. I should be there in about an hour and a half. How's everything going?_"

"Fine, so far. He's eating right now. Before that, he spent some time wandering through some of the shops. I think he's waiting for something."

"_Alright. It looks like he could be in more trouble than we thought, so keep your guard up._"

Straightening in his seat, Squall took another good look at the kid they were following. "What'd you find?"

"_I'll tell you more when I get there, but basically he's been seen around a local arms dealer._"

Now Squall was happy that he had thought to bring his pistol with him, the handgun tucked into its holster underneath his leather jacket. "I'll keep an eye out. Call when you get into town and I'll give you my location."

"_Be careful._"

As he hung up, Squall settled back down into his seat. If Cloud was right about the kid being seen with an arms dealer, things could actually get a little more dangerous than he had been guessing. But right now, nothing seemed amiss. The younger man was still stuffing his face with a hamburger and a large soda and seemed completely unaware that anyone was watching him. Of course, Squall wasn't your average lurker and knew how to observe without being obvious about it. In fact, right now it was so unexciting that Squall was glad that he had gotten a full night's sleep, otherwise he would've been tempted to rest his eyes for a bit.

Ever since they had taken down the Organization, really ever since Cloud had permanently moved in, Squall had been sleeping well. The nightmares that used to plague him had all but disappeared. He didn't know whether it was because he had stopped his criminal activities or because Cloud being there somehow soothed him, but whatever it was, he was thankful for it.

When Hudson finished his meal and stood, Squall waited a moment before doing the same, casually following at a distance of about twenty yards as the kid checked his watch then began to wander again. Squall hoped that whoever he was meeting or whatever he was waiting for didn't come until after Cloud got back. If not, he was sure that he could handle it, but it would be better knowing Cloud was watching his back. That, and Cloud would get seriously ticked off if Squall got into something while he wasn't there.

For the next hour or so, Squall trailed Hudson into the seedier parts of town, down into the second and third districts. Every now and again, Hudson would stop to talk to some other tough-looking young men and Squall would have to hide himself from view as inconspicuously as possible until he started moving again. The kid seemed like he was quite the networker, probably just starting to try and find a place for himself in the criminal world. If Squall and Cloud could nip this in the bud and keep Hudson from getting himself buried too deep, they'd probably ending up saving his life. Not that he'd appreciate it.

By the time Cloud was supposed to be arriving in Traverse Town, Squall had been led all the way down into the dark alleys of the Third District. They were actually only a few blocks away from where his, Riku, and Zexion's old headquarters used to be, so Squall knew the area decently well. And he knew that if Hudson really was meeting some arms dealer this would be the perfect place for him to do it.

Seeing that the kid had sat down against a brick wall on the corner of a thin, abandoned street, Squall retreated back an alleyway and brought his phone out to send a text to Cloud. Texting wasn't his favorite mode of communication, but it would've been bad if his phone rang or even vibrated. The noise might echo all the way back to where Hudson was sitting and after following the kid for so long Squall didn't want his cover blown by such a stupid thing.

Sending the message, he put his phone on silent and waited for a response. It didn't take long. "_I'll be there in ten minutes. Stay hidden._"

Honestly, did Cloud think Squall was a moron? Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Squall crouched down behind a dumpster, keeping an eye on Hudson as he kept out of sight himself. Cloud would probably pull up to the curb along the main road, so he had to sneak back out and meet up with him there. From that position, they wouldn't be able to see Hudson himself, but they would be able to see if anyone came in or left the alleyway, so it would have to do.

Almost exactly ten minutes later, Squall heard the sound of a car engine, the low rumble distinctively that of the retired cruiser Cloud had recouped. Squall stayed low as he slipped around the corner, a smirk spreading across his face as he crossed through one last alley and his sight finally landed on Cloud's car. The blonde already had the passenger side door open for him to jump in.

Sliding in, Squall closed the door behind him and Cloud cut the engine. "How'd your research go?"

"I found some things. Is Collin in there?"

"Yeah." Narrowing his eyes, Squall stared out through the front windshield. Just as he had suspected, he couldn't quite make out their target from here, but they could definitely see the area around where he was sitting. If anything happened, they'd know about it. "He arrived probably about fifteen minutes ago. He definitely seems to be waiting for something."

Cloud hummed thoughtfully then reached down near Squall's feet to grab a manila folder which he promptly threw onto Squall's lap. "There's everything they had on him. He doesn't look like he's gotten into anything too big yet but, like I said, he's starting to hang out with some bad characters."

Squall snorted as he flipped through the papers. "We should charge extra for this."

"I thought this was your favorite type of job."

"It is. I'm just saying we should charge extra."

Cloud sighed as he leaned over the steering wheel. "You're not happy with the tax fraud cases and you're not happy even when one of our cases turns out to involve an arms dealer. Is there any case that you wouldn't complain about?"

"Sure. The kind where I don't get bored and I get paid lots of money."

"Right."

They loved each other, really, but even now that they were on the same side these days, that didn't mean that they never butted heads. They pretty much only had four modes of interaction: making-out and its follow-ups, talking about their work, sitting in silence, or arguing. And Squall didn't want to have it any other way.

"Leon…"

The change in tone of Cloud's voice caught Squall's attention more than anything and he looked up from Hudson's file. "What is it?

"It looks like whoever Collin was waiting for just showed up."

Squall's eyes snapped over to where he knew the kid was sitting just out of view and, sure enough, a small group of people had just walked into the adjacent alleyway. They would've looked like just your average group of street thugs if it hadn't been for the large duffle bags slung over their shoulders. Squall knew from personal experience that duffle bags were a very efficient way to haul large guns around. "Is that your arms dealer?"

"Sure looks like it…" Cloud's voice trailed off before he let out a small tisk and pulled a camera out of his pocket, taking a couple quick pictures of the newcomers as proof to show their client later on. "Damn. I was sort of hoping that he hadn't gotten in quite so deep yet."

"Yeah—"

"—Shit! They're looking over here. Get down!" Squall blinked as his reply was cut off, Cloud's hand grabbed his shoulder, and he suddenly found his head being pressed in between his knees, Cloud practically lying on top of his folded-over body.

A few tense seconds passed and, when he didn't hear any footsteps heading their way, decided that it was probably safe to speak. "Did they see us?"

He felt Cloud shake his head. "I don't know…I don't think so."

"Well take a peek and find out because we're not going to get any work done this way."

One of Cloud's hands pressed down on Squall's shoulder as the blonde raised himself up just enough to see out of the bottom corner of the passenger side window. "...They have their backs to us but one of them has his hand resting on the end of a concealed weapon. They're suspicious. It looks like they're talking to someone." Shifting his shoulder to let Cloud know that he wanted up, Squall straightened in his seat as Cloud cautiously sat up in the driver's seat. "Keep your head low."

"I know." Squall's gaze quickly found the small gang and it looked like Cloud was right. "I think they _are_ talking to someone. Right around the corner is where the kid was sitting."

"You think he's making a purchase?"

"Probably. Take some more pictures."

Squall was answered by the sharp snap of a camera shutter. Cloud took photo after photo as they silently watched, Squall's heartbeat speeding up as one of the thugs suddenly tossed one of the duffle bags out of view, undoubtedly to Hudson. "Looks like the payment's been made."

Cloud swore under his breath. "What we really need is a picture of Collin actually holding the bag."

"Well, here's your chance. He's coming around the corner."

"What—?" This time it was Cloud who was surprised as Squall yanked him down, his blue eyes narrowing as he found his face buried in Squall's lap. "Really, Leon?"

Squall flushed as he ducked down under the window line. "Shut up, it was unintentional. Just take the picture."

Cloud snorted but switched his focus to lifting the camera up into the air just high enough to take a photo through the window. Blindly taking a few shots in the direction Hudson was supposed to be in, Cloud pulled the camera back down to review the pictures. "Got him. The photo's a little crooked and out of focus, but it's definitely Collin with the same duffle bag. Looks like he's walking this way though."

"Shit." Squall pressed himself down lower and not seconds after Cloud had finished speaking, he heard quick footsteps coming towards their car. He held his breath and hoped that the kid wasn't curious to look down into the front seats. If they were found now, it could blow their whole investigation. But as soon as he heard the footsteps pass by and recede without pausing once, Squall knew that they were in the clear.

Pushing himself up, he searched for the small gang of arms dealers and saw them heading off in the other direction, further into the alleyways. "Come on, let's go."

Cloud lifted himself out of Squall's lap with a deep frown on his face. "What, you're just going to run out there?"

Squall stared back at the blonde. Why was he even hesitating? They had a gang to catch. "Yeah. We can't just let those guys leave."

"But the deal was already made."

"So we got the proof the kid is messing around with things he shouldn't be. Are you really saying you're just going to sit here and let an arms dealer and his flunkies walk away?" Squall cut Cloud off as he opened his mouth to speak, "And don't even mention the police. By the time they get here, these guys will be long gone."

"Alright, alright, point taken." Cloud stared out the window for a second longer before his head jerked up into a tight nod. "Fine, let's just get this over with then."

Despite the situation, Squall smirked at his partner's hesitance. He couldn't really blame him; this sort of thing wasn't exactly in their job description anymore. And it was going to be two against four, and they knew that the four were already armed. "Think you can handle it?"

"Well…" Cloud growled in annoyance as he set his camera down, "Might be tough if one more shows up."

"Then that'll have to be the one that _I_ take care of."

"What, you're coming too?"

Squall rolled his eyes at Cloud's sarcastic response and in a single, smooth movement pulled his handgun out of his leather jacket and flipped the safety off. "Just stay behind me."

Cloud's eyes hardened as Squall reached for the door handle, suddenly deadly serious at the sight of the firearm. "Don't shoot anyone unless it's necessary."

"I won't." Of course, 'necessary' was a pretty subjective word. He knew Cloud had come unarmed and wasn't about to let anything happen to him. "You ready?"

"Let's go."

They both opened their car doors and stepped out at the same time, their eyes locking once before they turned to the alleyway. The small gang hadn't noticed them yet but as Squall and Cloud began to run after them they sure caught their attention. Squall could immediately sense the difference between the arms dealer and his gang and the Organization. Unlike the Organization, who would've immediately started shooting, the thugs hesitated, frozen in shock that something wasn't going to plan.

Taking advantage of their momentary confusion, Cloud called after them as they began to catch up. "Hey, you! Get over here, we want to talk to you!"

Squall kept his gun hidden as well as he could as they finally came face to face with the frozen street gang. It was easy to tell which of them was the main arms dealer. He was slightly older than the rest with a thick wad of cash, undoubtedly from Hudson, clutched in his hand. As Squall and Cloud drew closer, he seemed to snap out of his shock and quickly stuffed the money into his pocket. His brown eyes were narrowed suspiciously, his brow furrowed. "What is it?"

Cloud glared right back. "Did you just sell weapons to that young man?"

There was a stretch of silence as the arms dealer seemed to size them up. Apparently what he saw didn't impress him much because he let out a low chuckle as he spoke next. "What if I did? You interested in buyin' too?"

"Not exactly. We're here to shut you down."

Immediately the man's entire demeanor changed, his face darkening as from another pocket he drew a powerful handgun. "I don't think so. I don't know who you think you are, but no one's shuttin' me down. I suggest you just turn around and walk away before things get ugly."

As soon as he saw the arms dealer draw his weapon out, Squall revealed his own handgun, quickly leveling it at the man's chest. "And I suggest you drop your weapon, now."

The dealer smirked. Clearly this wasn't his first time looking down the barrel of a gun. "I don't know if you realized, but you're outnumbered. Boys," he snapped his fingers, "take care of these guys, would you?"

Squall's eyes sharpened as the three thugs behind the arms dealer stepped forward. One had a gun and the other two had dangerous looking switch blades. But if that was all they had, they were about to get their asses handed to them. But he didn't want to shoot anyone, and took a step back to analyze the situation as two of the street kids, the one with the gun and one with a knife, advanced on him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the third punk stalking up to Cloud, tossing his knife from hand to hand as if trying to intimidate the ex-detective.

It turned out that Squall didn't have any reason to even begin to worry about the blonde's safety. Before the thug could take one step closer, Cloud jumped into action, clearly not in the mood to take any crap. Punching out, Cloud landed a blow on the man's arm, nearly causing him to lose his grip on his blade. The flunky reeled back in surprise then, pride wounded, he lurched forward in a clumsily attack. Cloud easily sidestepped it and didn't waste any time as the kid stumbled, having knocked himself off balance. Before he could get his footing back, Cloud whipped his leg up into a devastating roundhouse kick. His boot caught the punk in the side of his head and sent him flying about three feet, slamming limply to the cobblestone road with a dull thud.

Distracted by his partner's fight, Squall almost missed the quick flash of steel as the thug with the gun, now starting to panic, lifted his weapon and aimed it at Squall's head. He was clearly inexperienced, his hands shaking around the grip of the weapon as his finger jumped around on the trigger. Before he killed someone, Squall, cool and collected as ever, fired his own handgun first. At such a close distance Squall's aim was perfect and the bullet smashed straight into the flunky's pistol, sending it spinning out of the man's sweaty grasp.

Their third attacker, panicking now, swung his blade wildly at Squall as his buddy, now unarmed, quickly threw his hands up into the air in surrender. Evading the attack, all Squall had to do was re-aim his gun at the knife-wielding punk's head and the thug, after a moment's hesitation, let his switchblade clatter to the ground and fell to his knees.

"Leon!" At Cloud's cry, Squall's head jerked up. "The dealer's making a run for it! Leave those guys, we need to go after him!"

"Right." Getting the arms dealer off the street was more important than keeping his flunkies detained. "Which way did he go?"

"Down to the right!"

"I'll run after him, you take the car!"

Cloud nodded and sprinted back off towards the road as Squall bounded off to the right. He knew that those kids would probably escape, but he could live with that. Maybe this would convince them to straighten their lives out.

Squall was just starting think that Cloud had given him the wrong directions when out of the corner of his eye he saw someone slip around a corner one block ahead. "Hey!" Gritting his teeth, Squall picked up his speed. Running long distance at such a fast pace had never been his strong suit, but he would just have to put up with the strain in his calves and lungs. They couldn't let the dealer escape now.

Rounding the corner, Squall saw the dealer running down another alleyway on his left. "Hey, stop!" The man of course ignored him and Squall pressed himself harder in an effort to close the gap between them. There was a good chance that the arms dealer would be able to lose him otherwise. "Stop or I'll shoot!"

Squall swore under his breath as the man kept going at full speed, hurtling towards an open plaza area. If he reached it before Squall could catch up, there'd be no way that Squall would be able to figure out which way he went. "Stop, damn it!"

He heard the arms dealer let out an airy laugh at the command. Then, just as he was about to reach the plaza, Cloud's car suddenly rushed into the courtyard, the vehicle cutting off the alleyway. Unable to stop in time, the arms dealer slammed straight into the side of the car, reaveling a dent in the metal paneling as he stumbled back to his feet.

Without even wasting the time to turn the car off, Cloud wrenched the driver's door open and leapt out. Grabbing the arms dealer before he could escape again, Cloud's blue eyes flashed as he used every ounce of his surprising strength and threw the taller man against the hood of his car. "This is a citizen's arrest!" Wrestling the dealer's gun away from him, he threw it to the ground. "You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law!"

"What, you guys aren't even cops?"

Cloud scowled. "No, but they should be here soon. I made a quick call on my way over."

Chest heaving, Squall slowed to a jog as he finally caught up. Seeing that Cloud had the criminal under control, he slid his own pistol back into its holster under his leather jacket. "How'd you find us?"

"I saw flashes of the chase through the buildings and just followed alongside from the road. When I saw that you were losing him, I thought I'd try and get ahead and see if I could block him. Looks like it worked." Looking up from his captive, Cloud's eyes glanced over Squall. "Are you alright, Leon?"

Squall nodded but any response he had was cut off as the arms dealer jerked in surprise. "L-leon? You mean the guy who helped take down the Organization? Shit, man, I'm sorry alright! Just go easy on me!"

Sighing, Squall ran his fingers through his hair. It looked like someone—probably Riku—had been spreading rumors around Traverse Town's crime circles again. "Just keep your mouth shut and don't make this any harder on yourself…"

OoOoOo

It didn't take long for the Traverse Town police to arrive on the scene, the officers happily accepting the arms dealer from Cloud and Squall's custody. Now that Squall and Cloud had been in business for a few months, the cops were starting to get used to these types of calls from them and they now almost had a system going for dealing with the aftermath. Cloud and Squall would follow the police and their newest prisoner back to the station where Cloud would help to book the criminal. Meanwhile, Squall usually took the opportunity to check up on other things. Today he had something specific in mind.

Waving to Cloud as the blonde disappeared into the Traverse Town police station, Squall walked across the First District plaza to a building he knew all too well. Although he had quit his job at Cid's once his and Cloud's P.I. business had kicked off, the two had still remained good friends and had actually developed a sort of symbiotic relationship. Cid let Squall and Cloud post advertisements in his shop and gave them information, and in exchange Squall brought him whatever weird items they came across that the police didn't want and would come in to help whenever Cid really needed an extra hand.

Shouldering the door open, Squall walked in the front of the pawn shop to find Cid at his usual place behind the counter. It was nearly closing time, so Squall wasn't surprised to find that the store was empty of customers, which he couldn't say he was sorry for. It was always easier to talk about things when he didn't have an audience eavesdropping on him. "Hey, Cid."

The gruff older man glanced up from the magazine he had been reading, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Leon, 'bout time you came 'round. Just bring in another criminal?"

"Yeah, Cloud's over at the station finishing up. You shouldn't smoke indoors."

"I'll do what I want. It's my damn store. Now, whaddya need?"

Squall smirked. "Just came in to check on things." He motioned to the small flyer advertising their private detective services that he had posted on Cid's wall some months earlier. "Anyone seem interested?"

"Actually, an older woman came up and asked me 'bout it a few days ago. You might be getting' a call from her soon. Didn't tell me what she wanted ya fer, of course. Other 'n that, it's been pretty quiet 'round here recently."

"I suppose that's a good thing…" Not for his business, but it at least meant that there was less trouble in the city. Squall's voice trailed off as his attention shifted to the display case Cid was resting his elbows on. In it was a collection of necklaces and jewelry.

Cid followed his gaze and smirked. "Thinkin' about proposin' or somethin'?"

"What? Oh god, no." Squall shook his head as he crouched down to get a better look. "Cloud and I aren't exactly the marrying type."

"Funny, 'cause you already seem like an' old married couple…"

Squall narrowed his eyes as his old boss let out a low grumble. "What'd you say?"

"Nothin'. What's caught yer eye then?"

"Sora's graduating high school in a few weeks." Letting out a sigh, Squall pointed at a small group of more masculine-looking necklaces, pieces of carved metal and stone. "It's stupid, but…when I graduated my dad gave me a necklace like this…" It was in the shape of a lion's head. Squall had worn it around his neck for years, only taking it off for the first time the day he had signed up with SeeD. He hadn't wanted anything so precious getting lost or damaged. Now it was tucked into a drawer in his bedroom; the last thing his father had ever given him. "…Maybe I should get one for Sora…"

"I think he'd like that a lot."

At the sound of the new voice, Squall looked over his shoulder and saw Cloud walking through the shop's door. He must've just come over from the station. "That was quick."

"Apparently there were already a few warrants out on the arms dealer, so they didn't need to ask me too many questions about why we arrested him." Cloud gave Cid a polite nod in greeting before kneeling down next to Squall. "Which one were you thinking of buying for Sora?"

"Maybe that one." Squall gestured to a silver crown hanging on a thick silver chain. Out of all the others, it spoke to him the most. He didn't know why, but the shape just seemed like it would suit Sora.

"I like it."

Squall glanced over at Cloud before standing up and leaning on the counter across from Cid. "How much does it cost?"

"Eh, for you, I suppose I can give you some sorta ex-employee discount…"

"Thanks."

Squall hoped Sora didn't mind the gift. He almost felt like he was crossing that line between father and older brother again, but he had a feeling that this time Sora would forgive it.

As Cid pulled the necklace out and went into the back to find a box to put it in, Cloud saw that something was bothering Squall. Standing up, he leaned against the counter next to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. This…this is just the only way I know how to share the moment with our parents…They would've given anything to be there to watch Sora walk across the stage. They would've been proud, to see how far he's come…"

"…They would be proud of you too, you know…"

Squall tried to smirk but it came out strained. "…You think so?"

"I know so."


	22. Bonus Chapter 2

Hey dudes! Yay, the next chapter is up, written as per a surprising number of requests! It's a little more serious than the last chapter, but I hope you like it! ^_^ Also, in a moment of blatant promotion, some good friends of mine started up a web-comic called "Reversion": http: /www. smackjeeves. com/comicprofile. php?id=86053 (minus the spaces). It's just getting started, but it's going to be a (het) romance/mystery/supernatural story (I got a sneak peek at the script and it looks pretty good). If you have some spare time after reading this, please check it out!

Anyway, big thanks and hugs go out to: ChaosGarden, kingdomheartslover13, Shinimegami7, PhotoKitty, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Kitty Neko, ramen-is-my-goddess, Aindel S. Druida, LizzyAlmasy, a-chan, TruancyCity, Mirror and Darkling, YumiStar, Qatari-Penguin, Stellar Eclipse, Pyro. Ahlex, BRP, MeykoLove, Becca86, Blah, shrouded-obsession, and Composer Gizmo-chan! Thanks for reviewing, you guys give the inspiration to get these Bonus Chapters out so quickly! ^_^

And, without further ado, onto the show:

O

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Bonus Chapter #2: Seifer's chapter

* * *

Seifer checked his watch as he jogged down the stairs leading down from his apartment. After he had gotten off his shift with SWAT he had sort of lost track of time and had ended up passing out on the couch for a few hours. Luckily he had woken up just in time to shower and change his clothes before he had to head out again. Zell was coming to Twilight Town for a visit today and he, Seifer, and Leon were supposed to meet up at a bar downtown in fifteen minutes. If he was late, Seifer was going to kick his own ass.

Picking up his pace, Seifer rounded the corner, planning on continuing on down the street but instead suddenly crashed into something solid. He stumbled back but the person he had ran into tumbled to the ground with a curse.

"Whoa, sorry, I—" The rest of Seifer's apology died on his lips as he finally got a good look at who he had hit. "Oh. Never mind." It was only Hayner.

The smaller blonde scowled up at him from where he was sprawled out on the ground. "Watch where you're going, you oaf!"

"Right back at you, chicken-wuss! Where are you even going that you can't look both ways before you walk?" Now that Seifer looked at him, the little punk wasn't dressed in his usual camo shorts and black tank-top. Instead he was _almost_ looking presentable in a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt.

Picking up his hands, Hayner brushed tiny bits of gravel off of his palms as he quickly scanned his clothing. "I was going to work! Look what you did to my pants!"

Seifer snorted as he ignored the insult. "You work?"

Hayner's chin shot up and he glared back at him. "Yeah, I work! I've been working at the same place for two years now! Though this stupid bank teller's job was only supposed to be temporary…"

"Huh. They let people like you work in a bank?" Reaching out a hand, Seifer offered the kid help up which Hayner reluctantly accepted. Seeing that he still had dirt on his pants, Seifer reached out and brushed some of the dust off for the clueless brat. Normally he wouldn't have bothered but it always annoyed Seifer whenever he saw a dirty uniform. He had slapped Leon and Zell around more than once for reporting for duty with stained or wrinkled shirts.

"H-hey, what the hell? Watch where your hands go!"

Seifer scoffed as he pulled away, finally having deemed the lamer clean enough. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not exactly my type."

The flush that had been staining Hayner's cheeks faded away and he let out a small snort as he leaned back against the wall, reaching down to straighten his clothing. "You have a type?"

"Yeah. My partner needs to look like they've actually been through puberty."

Hayner's head shot back up, fire dancing in his brown eyes. "Go to hell, jerk!"

Seifer's own eyes narrowed and Hayner flinched as he suddenly swung his arm up, his fist landing against the wall only a few inches from Hayner's face. Seeing the reaction, Seifer smirked. "Big words coming from such a shrimp. Your bark was always worse than your bite."

Trapped against the wall and gritting his teeth, Hayner glared up at Seifer. Just like old times. "Screw you, Seifer."

With another scoff, Seifer pushed back off of the wall, his hand smacking the side of Hayner's head as he stepped back. "You need to learn how not to pick fights with the wrong people, chicken-wuss. I'm way out of your league now."

Hayner's hands balled up into fists. "Oh yeah? How about we find out? There's a Struggle match this weekend. How about you show up so I can kick your ass?"

"I don't play little kid games anymore, chicken-wuss."

The lamer's face lit back up in an angry flush. "It's not a kid's game!"

"You smack people around with bats made of blue safety foam. It's a kid's game."

"Yeah, well...I…"

As Hayner's voice faltered and trailed off, Seifer's smug smile only spread. "Nice comeback." Realizing that he had been spending more time than he had planned on teasing Hayner, Seifer checked his watch again and swore. "As amusing as this is, I need to go. See you around, loser."

Seifer brushed by Hayner and began to walk back down the street, but he didn't take more than five steps before the twerp finally found his voice again. "Hey! I'm not done yet!"

Too bad, because he was. He had places to be and childhood memories had no place among them.

Seifer continued on without even so much as glancing back, half certain that the only thing keeping Hayner from running after him was that the lamer was probably already late himself. Speaking of late…Seifer picked up his speed. Even with that little set-back he would probably still make it to the bar on time but there was no reason why he couldn't make sure of it. After all, Leon and Zell would never let him hear the end of it if _he_ was late for once.

As it turned out, even though he arrived at the bar only a minute before their meeting time, he was still the first one there. Figures. Stepping inside, Seifer immediately claimed a seat at a private booth near the back of the darkened room, away from the main bar and flat-screen TVs blasting sports games. Catching a waitress's attention, he ordered up a beer for himself to get things started. As he put in his order, the woman sent him a small, cutesy smile which Seifer assumed was supposed to be seductive but he flat-out ignored the pathetic attempt to catch his eye. Not when someone so much better to look at had just walked into the bar.

Shooing the waitress away with a glare, Seifer wasted no time in waving Leon over to his table. Seifer smirked a little as he saw Leon let out a small huff as their eyes met from across the room. The other man had probably hoped on being the first to arrive so he could rub it in Seifer's face.

Leon was of course looking as good as ever as he walked across the dimly-lit room. With his dark jeans hugging his legs, leather jacket slung over his shoulder, hair slightly windblown, and his motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm he easily attracted looks from more than just Seifer. Not that Seifer really minded. None of them, including him, were ever going to get a piece of that.

As he reached the table, Leon ran his fingers through his hair. "Hey, Almasy. Zell here yet?"

"Nope. No big surprise there though." Back when they were with SeeD, Dincht had been notorious for running late to meetings. "You want to order something? I'm sure you could bring that waitress running back over here if you tried."

Leon shook his head as he took sat down across from Seifer. "I'll hold off until later. I'm driving back after all, last thing I need is to get pulled over for drunk driving by some Twilight Town cop on my way back to Traverse."

Seifer smirked as he leaned back in his seat. "Well, look at you. Does Cloud have you on a short leash, or what?"

Bristling, Leon set his helmet down on the bench beside him. "Whatever. I'm smart enough to stay out of as much trouble as I can these days."

"Sure. If you say so."

Squall scowled. "I didn't ride all the way out here just to take crap from you, Almasy."

"Hey, don't look at me. It wasn't my idea to have us all meet out here—"

Seifer's snide reply was cut off mid-way by a short laugh. "Man, you two never stop arguing, huh? It's amazing we didn't kill each other." Seifer and Leon both whipped their heads around to find Zell Dincht heading over to their table with a wide grin on his tattooed face. "You two didn't even notice me come in, did you?"

Rolling his eyes, Seifer nevertheless stood up to give their old brother-in-arms a quick handshake. "You're late."

Zell's grin spread even further. "Sorry to keep you waiting, my flight came in late!"

Seifer shook his head. "Always ready with an excuse."

"Of course!" Plopping down into the seat next to Leon, Zell reached up and ruffled the brunette's hair. "Leon! You let your hair grow out again!"

Leon tried to look annoyed but he was clearly having trouble fighting the smile off of his face. It had been over two years since they had all seen each other after all; it was good to have the gang back together. "Knock it off. I like it long, and it freaks Cloud out when I cut it."

The last part of Leon's sentence were said almost as a mumble, but both blondes had spent enough time with him to catch it. Glancing over at Seifer's snort, Zell quickly returned his attention to Leon as his brows furrowed in confusion. "Who's Cloud?"

Right. Zell probably hadn't heard of Cloud or, if he did, there was no reason why he should've remembered the name. Leon shot Seifer a glare as he opened his mouth to speak, answering back before Seifer could. "My…business partner. After the whole incident with the Organization settled down, we started a private detective agency."

Luckily Seifer and Leon had both filled Zell in on most of the Organization fiasco so that part didn't confuse him further. "Oh. That's actually pretty cool." Dincht paused as the waitress came back with Seifer's beer. Seifer would've bet money that she would've taken about ten minutes longer to bring him his drink if Leon and Dincht hadn't shown up. Coming back to the conversation after sending her off with a smile, Zell turned back to Leon. "Was it something this Cloud guy did before or what?"

"Yeah, sort of. He was a detective, actually for the Twilight Town Police Department before, but quit."

Seifer watched as Leon shifted just slightly in his seat. Zell probably didn't catch it from where he was sitting, but Seifer knew that the brunette was uncomfortable. He didn't want Zell to know that he and Cloud were together but, in Seifer's opinion, that wasn't only doing a disservice to Dincht, it was also a disservice to Cloud. So Seifer went ahead and filled in the gaps for Leon. "What he means to say is that Cloud quit the force because he sacrificed his job in order to help Leon here beat the shit out of the Organization."

Zell blinked in surprise while Leon glared so hard at Seifer that he could almost feel laser beams burning into the side of his head. "Really? He must've really liked you then, Leon."

"He should, since they're sleeping together."

You could've heard a pin drop in the seconds that followed. If Leon didn't look so murderous, Seifer would've enjoyed Zell's shocked expression a lot more. Finally releasing some of the tension that had descended over the table, Dincht released a nervous laugh. "You mean like, they're roommates or something?"

"No, I meant exactly what I said."

Knowing there was nothing he could say to save himself now, Leon just reached across the table and stole Seifer's beer. The blonde let him take a long swig before snatching his drink back as Zell processed what he had heard. You could almost see smoke coming out of his ears as the gears in his brain turned. "So…Leon, you…are into guys now?"

"I don't think either of us were really into anything else, Dincht."

"Oh…Wait, what?" Zell's blue eyes were glued to Seifer now. "You too? What, was everyone in the unit but me gay?"

This wasn't where Seifer had planned on taking this conversation today but, on the other hand, Dincht had to realize it sooner or later. Sooner was probably better than later anyway. "No, just us I think."

A glance across the table told Seifer that now that he wasn't the only one being outted Leon had relaxed a little. Just a little, though he clearly wasn't happy with the situation. He leaned onto the table, a small frown on his face as he looked over at Zell. "Does it bother you?"

Dincht paused at Leon's tone then quickly shook his head. "No, it doesn't _bother_ me, it just, weirds me out a little. I mean, you two were like the epitome of manliness in our unit. You being gay just sort of scrambles my brain." Seifer rolled his eyes as Zell gripped at his blonde, spiked hair as if trying to keep his head from exploding. "How many other things in my life are a lie?"

Seifer raised an eyebrow. "What, we're gay so we can't be manly anymore?"

As if realizing his verbal mistake, Zell shook his head again. Seifer tried to think back to the last time he had seen the shorter blonde soldier so flustered. It had definitely been a while. "No, it just sorta redefines it. My mind can't handle it."

"That's because you're a moron."

"Whatever, Seifer!" The familiar name-calling seemed to snap him out of whatever mental trauma he had been going through though. Letting out a long sigh, Dincht released his hair as his hands instead went for his beer bottle the waitress had just delivered. He must have ordered it before he even came to the table, but he was probably pretty thankful for it now. "For keeping secrets and insulting my genius, you're paying for the next round."

From the corner of his eye, Seifer saw Leon's shoulders slump in relief. He didn't know why the other had been so wound up in the first place; there was no way that Dincht of all people would ever hold something like their sexuality against them. But knowing that going in, even Seifer had to admit that having Dincht accept it so quickly was a bit of a relief. "Fine, I'll buy you a shot of tap water."

Zell snorted in amusement but didn't reply, clearly still lost in his own thoughts. Seifer chanced a glance at Leon and after a moment storm-gray eyes met his gaze. The silence was starting to get awkward but neither of them knew how to break it. Finally, Dincht did it for them, though afterwards Seifer was wishing that he had just kept his mouth shut. "So…Did you guys ever like, have sex in the bunker or anything?"

Seifer almost spit out the beer he had just taken a sip of as Leon made an odd choking noise from across the table. Looking up, he was about to yell at Zell for being an idiot when he realized that Dincht had actually asked it as an honest to god question.

Seifer couldn't even begin to say what he wouldn't have given for it to have been true. The amount of self-control it had taken to keep himself in check in SeeD while knowing that the source of all of his frustrations had been sleeping in the same room, completely unaware of it all, had been exhausting. The only way he could get Leon's attention, and make up for some of his frustrations, was to work his subordinate into the ground. Seeing Leon sweat had given him short-term relief, but long-term it just made the hole in his chest grow bigger. Not that he could voice so much of a word of that now. So, Seifer did the only thing he knew that would diffuse the situation: make Zell look like a moron. It wasn't hard. "Ya, every Wednesday and Saturday after we got off sentry duty we'd just go at it on Leon's bunk."

"What, seriously?"

Leon put his head in his hands as Seifer fought hard against reaching across the table and throttling Zell for being so dense. His mouth had always worked way faster than his brain and today it was definitely showing. "No! Not really! God, Dincht, it was a joke! You slept four feet above Leon in the top bunk. If we were getting frisky I think you would've noticed!"

Letting his arms drop back down onto the tabletop, Leon cut him off before Seifer could continue. "Can we drop this subject?"

Zell laughed again, though this time it sounded much less nervous and forced. "Ha, sure. Sorry Leon. I guess it's just, you know, new to me and all. But, um…" Taking a long sip of his beer, Zell looked between the two of them as he searched for a new conversation topic, his effort obvious. "So…How's SWAT treating you, Almasy?"

Seifer scoffed, "Really? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, get off my back, I tried! Besides, I actually want to know. You hardly ever talk about your own job, Commander, and it's definitely gotta be more interesting than my life right now."

"Don't call me that." The order came out a little harsher than Seifer had intended and he quickly tried to cover it up as Zell and Leon both gave him a surprised look. "I mean, we're out of SeeD now. Unless you want me to start ordering you around again that is."

Dincht smirked at Seifer's lightened tone. "Definitely not."

"Alright then." Seifer could still feel Leon's eyes on him but the more stoic man didn't say anything so Seifer decided to disregard his stare. "Anyway, SWATs been fine. Keeps me on my toes anyway. Except for lately. Things have gotten a little slow recently."

Apparently Leon had gotten over his issue because he chimed in, a thoughtful frown on his face. "I've been noticing the same in Traverse Town actually. Crime's slowed down."

"Huh. I wish it was the same way back in Balamb." Dincht leaned back in his seat. "Maybe it's the weather. The summer heat making people lazy."

Seifer absently ran his fingers through the condensation on his mug. "Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's making life boring and doing a shit job at keeping my mind busy…" Seifer's voice trailed off before he smirked up at Leon. "Of course, nothing has ever been quite as exciting since you and your little crew got out of the criminal business."

Leon stared back at Seifer. "What? You want me to commit a crime to amuse you?"

"Not in those exact terms, though it would make life more interesting."

"….No." Zell laughed at Leon's deadpan tone and even Seifer smirked a bit as Dincht quickly recaptured the conversation and ran away with it. After that, the subject of their talk bounced from work to hobbies to memories in SeeD. Only the good ones though. All three of them had already experienced enough of the bad ones just by living through them.

Before Seifer had known it, the three of them had sat there at that booth, just talking, for over four hours. Between him and Zell they had gone through seven more beers, Leon nursing a single bottle throughout the whole thing. Even so, Seifer hardly even felt buzzed. It took a lot more than that to take him drunk these days.

As Zell finished retelling a particularly amusing moment when one of their subordinates had gotten caught in the shower in the middle of a raid, he finally seemed to realize what time it was. Looking at his watch through his bursts of laughter, the blonde smiled back at them. "Man, is it already that late?"

There was a wide smile spread across Leon's face as he leaned over to check the clock hanging above the bar. "Do you have someplace you need to be?"

"I told some relatives in town I'd drop by and visit tonight." Dincht let out a small groan of disappointment. "Damn, I just want to hang out here all day instead!"

Smirking, Seifer folded his arms over his chest. "Well, it's not like we can't do this again. How long are you staying?"

Dincht almost pouted. "Only a week. It's all the vacation time I had stored up too. I have to get back to work in Balamb after this."

Leon finished draining his beer and sat the empty bottle back down on the table. "My schedule's full until Friday, but I can come back up then and we could do this again."

"Really?" As Seifer nodded his assent, Zell's face brightened again. "Alright, awesome!" A grin stretched across his face as he pushed himself up from his seat and stretched. "Meeting here again on Friday sounds great."

Seeing that he really needed to leave, Seifer reluctantly stood up as well. He was hoping that they could drag this out a little more. "Are you going to get here on time next time?"

"Psh, if you're lucky." Zell's arm slung around Leon's shoulders as the brunette got to his feet. "Hey, Leon, can you show me where the bus station is?"

Leon rolled his eyes as he reached up to try and pry the shorter man's arm off. "Ask Almasy, he lives here."

"No way! Seifer, you'd never let me forget it if I asked you, would you?"

Finding Dincht's eyes suddenly on him, Seifer shrugged. "Probably not."

"See?"

"Fine."

As the stoic man agreed to help, Zell released him from his hold. He might've been smaller than either Seifer or Leon, but he was surprisingly strong for his size. He had always been the best hand-to-hand fighter in their unit. "Great! Otherwise I would've been stranded at the bar which, now that I think about it, might not have been a bad thing after all."

Leon just shook his head and the three of them began to head towards the door after leaving money for their drinks on the table. Zell was out the door first but just before Seifer could step out he felt a hand on his arm and Leon pulled him back in.

Turning back with an annoyed scowl, Seifer was almost caught off guard as he found Leon's eyes on his face, the man's expression suddenly serious again. "What?"

Leon kept his voice low as he leaned in close. Whatever he was saying, he wanted to keep it private but Seifer had to fight down a tremor as the other got a little too close for Seifer to have complete control of himself. He forced himself to refocus as he realized Leon was speaking. "You okay?"

Blinking, Seifer quickly plastered an annoyed look back on his face. "Sure, why?"

"…Just a feeling I got from you today." Frowning, Leon's footing shifted. "Look, I know I'm not always your favorite person, but you _can_ talk to me, if something's wrong. Zell too."

Seifer narrowed his eyes as he hissed back. "_Nothing's_ wrong, Leon. Relax. When have you ever had to worry about me, huh?" When Leon couldn't come up with a reply, Seifer stepped back towards the door and put some space between them. "Now come on. Letting Dincht run around by himself is dangerous."

"Right…"

* * *

After that afternoon, the days passed pretty nondescriptly for Seifer, right up until Wednesday morning. It had started out as normal as any others; Seifer had reported to duty with SWAT early in the morning and had just starting looking over an incident report when suddenly a siren blasted through the silence of his office. A call had come in.

Seifer was immediately on his feet, the thundering of footsteps filling the building as other members of his team piled out of the rec room and mess hall, all instantaneously ready for action. As they suited up, Seifer located a phone and was patched through to whoever issued the call. He practically had to shout into the phone to be overheard over the controlled chaos as his men got ready to move out behind him. "Commander Seifer Almasy speaking! What's the situation?"

"_Commander Almasy, this is Twilight Town Police Department. We've just got a report of a robbery and hostage situation at the First National bank downtown. The TTPD is on site but they require immediate assistance_."

"Understood." Knowing that they would get filled in on the details on scene, Seifer hung up and called back to his crew. "Hostage situation, boys! Load up the van!"

Thanks to the honed practice of his team, they were ready to go within a minute. Having quickly pulled on his gear, helmet and rifle included, Seifer was the last to get on board, the armored van tearing out of the garage seconds later, lights flashing and siren blaring.

By the time the arrived on scene, it was obvious that whatever was going on was bad news. It was impossible to see clearly inside the building from where they were but what was going on outside was a clear enough indication. The Twilight Town Police already had a barricade of patrol cars and officers gathered around the outside of the First National Bank, an old brick building located downtown in Tram Common. The way the buildings were packed so close together combined with often high foot traffic, it probably the worst place in town for something like this to happen. Maybe he shouldn't have wished for something more exciting to come along.

Seifer was out of the van as soon as it came to a complete stop. Flipping up the visor on his helmet, he scanned the area for any familiar faces among the other law enforcement officers. He definitely needed more information of what was going on before he came up with any sort of plan of action.

When he didn't immediately spot someone he knew, Seifer switched strategies and instead searched out for someone in charge. It didn't take long since there was only one good candidate, an officer bellowing out orders to the nervous beat cops around him. Seifer wasted no time in making his way over to the man.

"Hey, someone call for SWAT?"

The officer looked rather haggard up close. "Good, you're here! We have a situation."

"Obviously. Care to fill me in?"

The man nodded and finally tore his eyes away from the bank. The front windows were smashed and cobwebbed with fractures, making it hard to see what was going on inside even from so close up. "We got a call about a robbery going down at the bank. By the time we got our guys out here though, the robber flipped out but instead of running got desperate and grabbed one of the tellers. The rest of the occupants managed to escape, but he's holding the teller hostage. Says he'll kill the hostage if we don't give into his demands. We tried a negotiator already, but he has flat-out refused to talk."

Seifer narrowed his eyes. It sounded like a fairly standard hostage case, not that that made it any less dangerous. "What are his demands?"

"A car and safe passage out of the city."

"Right. And do you know what kind of weapons he has on him?"

"From what we could get from the witnesses, he at least has a rifle and a knife. He has the knife pressed to the teller's throat to keep them from escaping and has been threatening us with the rifle for the past ten minutes."

"You have eyes on him?"

"Yeah, here."

Looking down, Seifer realized that the officer had a pair of binoculars which he was now offering to the SWAT commander. Accepting them with a small grunt of thanks, Seifer used them to peer back into the building through broken window panes. It took a minute for him to focus the image but when he finally did, he felt his blood run cold in his veins.

He saw the robber looking desperate all right as he cowered next to his hostage behind the teller's counter at the far side of the bank. But it wasn't the contraband automatic rifle held in the panicking man's right hand that had made his face go pale; it was the long hunting blade he held in his left that was being pressed against the teller's throat and the frightened look in the hostage's brown eyes. A very familiar pair of brown eyes. Hayner.

But what the hell was he—? That's right; Hayner had grumbled something about working as a teller and when Seifer had run into him yesterday he had been heading downtown. It figured that he would be working in the bank that got robbed by a psychopath! The kid just couldn't stay out of trouble! "God dammit."

"What is it?"

Seifer scowled as suddenly remembered where he was and thrust the binoculars back into the officer's hands. He could feel his heart drop down into his stomach. Hayner was in there. The brat was the hostage. This wasn't just an ordinary hostage case anymore; it had suddenly gotten way too personal. But he couldn't let that effect his ability to work, for both his own sake and Hayner's. "Nothing. Nothing, but," taking a breath to calm himself, Seifer's voice dropped down into an authoritative command, "you need to move your men back so I can take my team in."

The police officer started and a deep frown spread across his face as he glared back at Seifer. "Hey now, you just can't come in here and—"

Seifer cut him off. They didn't have the time to argue and he certainly didn't have the time to bother with any sort of power struggle. "As soon as I arrived on scene, this became my responsibility, so just do exactly what I say or we're going to have a problem. Got it?"

Before the flustered man could respond, a shout from across the street caught both of their attention and Seifer glanced behind him to see none other than Roxas running over to him in his suit at full throttle, Axel chasing after him. Roxas's face was white as a ghost, his blue eyes wide. "Seifer! Seifer," reaching them, Roxas doubled over, his hands resting on his knees as he sucked in a breath of air. Had he run all the way down here from the police station? "Seifer, you're here! Hayner's in there!"

"I know. Just keep everyone out of my way and it'll be fine."

The uniformed officer spluttered, caught off-guard by Roxas's sudden appearance. "But, Detective Strife—"

Roxas's chin jerked up and he scowled up at the cop. "Just do what he says, Mosley!"

Seeing that he now had full leave to do whatever he deemed necessary, Seifer pulled his visor back down over his eyes as the officer let out a grumbled, "Yes, sir."

As Roxas once again met his gaze, fear sparking in his eyes, Seifer straightened his shoulders and nodded. "Don't worry lamer, I got this."

Roxas swallowed then nodded back as Axel caught up and wrapped a hand around the blonde's arm. "You better. If you need anything from us, let me know."

"Right."

Leaving Roxas, Axel, and the other officers behind, Seifer turned and walked back over to his team who were still waiting by the van awaiting orders. Waving for them to gather around, Seifer looked back over at the bank as the SWAT unit circled around him. "Alright, here's what's going on. We've got a robbery gone bad and a single hostage has been taken. Negotiations have already been attempted and failed. From what I could see, the robber has the hostage held down behind the teller's desk and has a full-automatic rifle and a knife."

On of his team members spoke up. "Is there any chance that we could snipe the target?"

"I don't think so. The window is so broken up it'd be nearly impossible to line up a proper shot and even if you could, there'd be too great a chance that you'd hit the hostage." Hayner, his mind reminded him. There was no way anyone was taking any long-distance shots when that brat was standing so close to their would-be target.

"So what's the plan?"

What _was_ the plan? Seifer's thoughts were all over the place, he could barely form a coherent thought, much less a plan. Although it didn't show on his face, Seifer was panicking way more than he should've been. Alright, so he knew the kid, so what? He should still be able to think straight! Damn it, this was too similar, to much like when—no, he definitely could not let himself start thinking about _that_ now. His crew was waiting for him to come up with a plan and the clock was ticking.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. I don't see how we'd sneak up on him, so we'll hit him hard and fast. We'll cause a distraction, flash-bangs and tear gas, and then a small team will rush in, disarm the target, and get the hostage the hell out of there."

"Who's going in?"

"I'll lead the team in myself." Seifer wanted this done right and the only way to make sure that happened was to put himself right on the frontlines. "Barnes, Jones, you two are with me. Everyone else, I want you stationed at the front of the bank with paramedics ready to go as soon as this is over. Our number one priority is the safety of the hostage, but remember don't shoot unless the target shoots first or makes a move towards any of us or the hostage with his knife. Understood?" Seifer was answered back by a flurry of "Yes, sirs". "Alright, let's go."

With those words, his team broke away to do their parts; Seifer and his two subordinates headed straight for the front of the bank. Pressing himself against the wall and ducking down to avoid being seen through the cracked window pane, Seifer motioned for the other two to do the same. Catching their target by surprise was going to give them a huge advantage.

He could feel the rest of the police gathered around watching him as the rest of his team came up from behind him and from the other side of the bank's front door, all of them staying low to avoid behind seen. Realizing that they were ready to go, Seifer grabbed his rifle in both hands, checked behind him to make sure everyone was in position, and he gave a tight nod to the SWAT standing across from him on the other side of the door. It was time to make their move.

At his signal, the SWAT across from him reached up and smashed the butt of his rifle into the shattered window to break a hole in it then lobbed a grenade inside. Behind where Seifer was crouched down a SWAT did the same and the two grenades exploded in the middle of the bank. One let out a blinding flash of light and the other sent out a cloud of tear gas surging through the enclosed space.

Seifer was already on his feet by this point and as he burst in through the front door under the cover of the thick fog clouding the bank's interior. He could hear Hayner and the crook let out surprised shouts and coughs. Heading straight for the noise, Seifer pushed his way through the chaos, hearing footsteps storm in behind him as his team members followed him inside.

His eyes narrowed when he finally got close enough to make figures out through the smoke. Seifer could tell that the robber was freaking out; he clearly had no experience with this sort of thing and was frantically looking around for any sign of escape as his grip on Hayner tightened. He was waving his rifle around wildly and Seifer could hear his heart pounding his ears as the knife at Hayner's neck drew closer, a line of red appearing as the blade broke through the skin.

Meanwhile it was clear Hayner was just trying to stay alive, one hand grabbing onto the arm the robber had wrapped around his throat and his face twisted up into a frightened grimace. Nevertheless he was the first to spot Seifer and the rest of the SWAT coming through the fog, his eyes widening with gut-wrenching hope.

That, combined with the psychotic glint in the robber's eyes as he finally caught sight of them, made Seifer see red. Taking his hand off of the trigger of his own rifle so he wouldn't have to fight off the instinct to shoot, Seifer charged forward before the criminal had a chance to pull himself together.

He kept the rifle gripped tight in the man's hand in the back of his mind but his first goal was to get that blade away from Hayner's throat. Seifer had been hoping that charging the man would make him pull away from the kid in order to take him on. He wasn't disappointed.

The would-be-robber slipped his arm out from around Hayner's neck and Seifer quickly jumped between them as Hayner stumbled back. But instead of trying to stab at him, like Seifer had been expecting, the man caught him off guard by raising his rifle and pointed it at Seifer's head. They were so close that the end of the barrel was only inches away from Seifer's visor, pointed directly between his eyes.

A surge of adrenaline shot through Seifer's veins so fast that his vision almost went white and he let his body act on its own as he threw himself down, back on top of Hayner to block him from the blast as the psychotic man actually pulled the trigger. As he dropped to the tiled floor, Seifer felt the bullet just barely graze the side of his helmet, the impact still powerful enough to make his head jerk forward as he tumbled down on top of Hayner.

Seifer could barely hear Hayner and his fellow SWAT's shouts as his ears buzzed with energy. Despite the ache in his neck he didn't wait around to be shot at again and rolled off Hayner, launching himself at the man in a full-on tackle. The rifle went flying from the man's hand as Seifer wrestled him to the ground, the SWAT gritting his teeth and he poured all of his energy into avoiding the robber's blade as he desperately swung it around. Before the thief could manage to break free though the other two SWAT members came rushing to their leader's aid and jumped on top of the man. The man thrashed in their grip, screaming about how he didn't want to go back to jail, tears streaming down his face from the gas seeping into the far corners of the bank. His pleas fell on deaf ears as they wrenched the knife from his fingers. "No, no! I won't go back! I won't!"

Seifer's jaw tightened as one of his team members reached back for a pair of handcuffs. "Too bad, you son of a bitch! Now stop resisting!"

The SWAT member not fumbling for the cuffs glanced over his shoulder at Seifer. "We got 'im boss, you get the hostage out."

"Right." Trusting that if his team thought they could handle it that they would be fine, Seifer turned, his sight zeroing in on Hayner who was still sprawled on the floor where Seifer had left him. The kid was gripping at his neck, his eyes squeezed shut as he coughed, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. Risking the sting of the tear gas himself, Seifer flipped up his visor as he crouched down next to the younger man, his brows knit together. "Hey, lamer! Hayner! You alright?"

Hayner's eyes flew open at the sound of his voice, the sudden motion almost knocking the woozy kid over. Their eyes met for the first time without the visor blocking the view and recognition sparked in Hayner's eyes. "Sei-fer…?...the hell-?"

Hayner cut himself off with a series of coughs that left his gasping for air, each inhale making him wince as it stretched the shallow cut on his throat. Something in Seifer's chest pulled tight at the sound. "Can you get up?"

He got a low moan in response. Knowing it was the best he'd probably get, Seifer flipped his visor back down. "Alright, hang on, I'll get you out to the paramedics." Leaning down, he quickly scooped Hayner up into the arms, one arm wrapping around beneath his knees while the other supported Hayner's back. Somewhere in the back of his mind Seifer was shocked at how light he was; he sure didn't fight like a lightweight.

The movement caused Hayner to let out a sharp grunt of surprise and Seifer's grip tightened around him as he instinctively began to struggle. "Relax, I've got you."

"Sei-Seifer…"

Seifer shushed him as he rose to his feet. "Don't strain yourself, chicken-wuss. Try not to inhale too much of the tear gas."

Hayner nodded weakly and nuzzled his face against Seifer's vest, the action causing Seifer's heart to skip a beat. More than anything else the submissiveness of the move let Seifer know that he had to get the kid out to the EMTs fast.

Crossing the bank, Seifer burst out through the haze and suddenly found himself surrounded by the rest of the SWAT team, police, and ambulance workers. They had all been anxiously awaiting any sign of what was happening inside and the sight of the hostage emerging from the building relatively unharmed caused a wave of relief to sweep through the crowd of emergency responders.

Before Seifer could even reach the paramedics, Roxas was at his side, his blue eyes glued on his friend. "Hayner!" As Hayner only let out a dull moan, Roxas's gaze bounced up to Seifer. "What happened?"

Seifer ignored the question just long enough to set Hayner down on the gurney wheeled over to them by a fast-acting EMT. "Lamer's just a little dizzy, though I can't blame him. He'll snap out of it soon."

As Seifer stepped back, Roxas rushed forward along with a small team of paramedics. Hayner had his eyes open again, his brown gaze blinking up owlishly as he suddenly found himself on his back with his friend leaning over him. "Roxas? Wha-where am I?"

"You're out of the building. The paramedics are going to take you to the hospital. I'll follow as soon as I can, explain everything, and you can tell me what happened, alright?"

Hayner jerked in surprise as one of the paramedics reached down to take his vitals. "Roxas…"

"Don't worry, you'll be just fine!" The blonde detective had been quick to comfort his friend but as soon as the EMTs began to wheel him away, Roxas spun around to face Seifer. "He'll be fine, right?"

Pulling off his helmet as his adrenaline started coming down, Seifer ran his fingers over the dent in the hard plastic where the bullet had ricocheted off. "Yeah. He should be fine, especially now that the gases are starting to wear off."

Axel, who had until then been busy acting as the ranking officer on scene, walked up and put an arm around his partner as Roxas seemed to melt a little from relief. "Good." Glancing up at Axel, the blonde detective released a long sigh and leaned back against the redhead's lanky frame. "…Thanks, Seifer. You probably saved Hayner's life, you know."

Seifer brushed off the compliment. "I know. But it's my job to handle shit like this."

"But, you actually _cared_, like above and beyond the call of duty and all that. So, thanks. I don't know what I would've done if…"

"Hey," Axel's grip tightened on Roxas's shoulder, "don't even finish that sentence, Rox. The important thing is that everything worked out. And now that SWAT's done their job, we should probably get back to doing ours. They just brought the perp out and we need to get things wrapped up."

"Right." Roxas blinked back at the bank and heaved another sigh. "Holy crap, I'm tired."

Axel gave the blonde a sympathetic look as he straightened up. "Tell me about it. Come on, let's get this over with and then we can call it a day and head back home for some rest."

Rest. Suddenly Seifer felt like he could go for a long nap himself. Luckily, unlike the police, SWAT wasn't expected to hang around the scene of an incident after the action was over and today Seifer took full advantage of that.

No more than an hour after he had watched Hayner get packed up into the ambulance, Seifer found himself heading back to his apartment, having granted himself the rest of the day off. He usually didn't take off like this after runs but he wasn't sure if he could handle any more action today. He didn't even want to think anymore. In fact, there was only one thing he did want to do: go home and consume as much alcohol as he could get into his stomach. Just like every other night.

Dealing with things through SWAT usually didn't get to him as much but today…too much shit had gone down, too many memories forced to the surface. All the mistakes he had ever made, everything…

Wiping his hand over his face, Seifer shouldered his way into his dingy apartment, barely closing the front door behind him. Dropping all of his gear off in the entry way he paused long enough to grab a bottle from the fridge before crashing down onto his overused couch.

Meeting up with Leon and Zell followed so soon by Hayner…it was just too much to think about. Too much he didn't want to deal with. How many times he had screwed up, all the ways he could've handled that hostage situation better. Would Hayner have had to go to the hospital if Seifer had just sat his ass down and actually thought out a plan? Shit, just thinking about how close the kid had come to getting his head blown off thanks to Seifer's rushing in, just like the raid back in the desert when Squall…when he…

Tilting his head back, Seifer swore up at the ceiling as he popped the top off a bottle of beer. He was going to have to grab the stronger stuff after this. He couldn't think about how everyone always seemed to get hurt around him, how he ended up beating the crap out of the people he liked the most. He didn't want those damn dreams to come back. He wanted to get so drunk that he couldn't remember his own name, just so he wouldn't have to dream, wouldn't have to live with the nightmares clawing him apart from the inside out.

That mandatory therapy SeeD prescribed hadn't worked for shit; Seifer had walked out of his first session after one hour and just went straight across the street into a bar. The psychologist had talked about some sort of guilt complex and depression, talked about post traumatic stress and cognitive behavioral therapy or some such crap. Screw her. A bottle of whiskey was so much simpler. And it had worked for over two years, so why stop now?

After downing the bottle of beer he had brought with him, Seifer pushed himself back to his feet and stormed into the small kitchen and ripped through his cabinets, intent on numbing absolutely everything tonight. Returning to the couch with his hands full of bottles, Seifer set them down on the small coffee table sitting in front of the couch. Other than the couch and the coffee table, his living room was pretty much empty, save for a small TV sitting in the corner of the room and his memorabilia from the war, from his time with SeeD. No artwork, no photographs save for some newspaper clippings with black and white images attached. He never had anyone over, so he never cared about how his place looked but, now that he looked at it…damn, it didn't help his mood.

Ripping the top off of a bottle of some harder alcohol, vodka if he had read the label right, Seifer winced as the liquid burned down his throat. He knew this wasn't healthy, but really, what did _that_ even matter? What was he living for, the thrill of recreating the battlefield through SWAT? Watching Leon fall in love with a man just too good for Seifer to compete with?

Taking another swig of alcohol, his eyes drifted across to the other end of the coffee table were some of his old SeeD stuff sat gathering dust. His dog-tags, a medal of honor, one of the patches from his uniform, and his SeeD issued pistol. His pistol…Reaching over, Seifer picked it up with one hand while he gripped the vodka bottle in the other. The weight of the handgun was still so familiar, a sickening comfort. Some people had a stuffed bear or a photograph to comfort them, he had a gun. How messed up was that?

To distract himself in between gulps of burning alcohol, Seifer busied himself by disassembling his handgun, his fingers pulling apart the pieces with far too much efficiency. Then, once he had it broken up and scattered amongst the bottles, he put it back together again, racing himself. Over and over again, pull it apart, put it back together, pull it apart, put it back together. As he got drunker and drunker the urge became stronger and stronger to load a single round into the clip. That's all it would take after all. Just one round.

Why not? From what he could tell, this was going to be his life until he died. Just him, sitting alone in the dark and drinking, or going out, pretending he could lead a group, just to have that kick of adrenaline. He was never going to have a relationship with anybody. First Squall and now…now Hayner? He knew himself enough to know that he reacted way too strongly when he had figured out that it was Hayner who was being held hostage. The way his heart had skipped around in his chest when he thought the kid was going to die, when Hayner nestled in against him as Seifer carried him out…

Stupid freaking Hayner. That scrawny-ass punk. He was the complete opposite of Leon, so why was Seifer attracted? Lean and skinny with no muscle mass to speak of, with a mouth that ran faster than his brain, almost like a prepubescent Zell. Seifer had known the brat for years, had picked on him for years. Nothing should've been there. And yet…Setting his now reassembled handgun back down on the table, Seifer lay down on the couch and pressed his hands to his forehead.

Hayner was the only one who yelled at him. Who wasn't afraid to actually yell at him. Not even Leon or Zell would do that unless forced; they had too much discipline and training drilled into their brains for anything else. But Hayner still thought of Seifer as the school bully. He had no recollection of Seifer as a SeeD commander, didn't know the things that he saw, the things he had done. That little twerp represented what he had been before he had left town and signed his soul over to SeeD. Back when Seifer had been so sure of himself and everything else in the world. Back before Seifer had the weight of men's lives crushing down on his shoulders.

Was that what he wanted?

Maybe…

He just didn't want to have to think anymore…

OoOoOo

The next thing Seifer was aware of was a pounding noise echoing around his head. Realizing that he'd blacked out, he slowly cracked an eye open and found his face buried against the rough fabric of his couch. The after-effects of the alcohol were still in system, his vision slightly blurred as he rolled over just enough to look out the window. It was dark; he must've been out for a few hours then.

It only took a few more seconds for him to realize that the pounding wasn't coming from inside his head but that it was actually someone knocking on his front door. There was no way he was getting up. A few more slugs of alcohol would probably be enough to send him back into unconsciousness. If he could only reach the bottle…

"_Seifer? Seifer, you in there? I just, want to talk._"

Ugh. Even half-drunk he recognized that voice. Hayner. That was the _last _person he needed to see right now.

"_Seifer? Your door's unlocked, I'm coming in!_"

But it seemed like he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Mumbling something meant to be a curse, Seifer turned his face back against the couch fabric again, unable to will up the energy for any more proactive protests.

He heard his front door, that damn door he apparently forgot to lock in his haste to get drunk, open up and someone stepped inside, closing the door behind them. "Seifer?" The footsteps hesitated before they walked into his apartment. It took an unfortunately short amount of time for him to stumble into the living room and Seifer knew he had been spotted when he heard Hayner let out a grunt of disgust. "This place is a mess! There are bottles everywhere. What are you, an alcoholic?"

Seifer just snorted. No, no alcoholics here. He was addicted to forgetting, not the booze. Alcohol was just the cheapest and easiest means to an end.

Hayner paused at the dull response then, to Seifer's surprise, the younger man squatted down next to where Seifer was laying on the couch. But what made his eyes flicker open again was Hayner's tone changed from pissed off to what Seifer would've dared to call concerned.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Scoffing again, Seifer finally turned his head to look at the Hayner, just to show him that he was in fact still breathing so that he'd get off his case. He looked much better than he had earlier today, a flush back in his cheeks and a small bandage covering the wound on his neck. He had gotten out of the hospital a while ago then. "'m fine. Beat it, lamer…"

If anything, Hayner's brown eyes only got more anxious. Seifer didn't know what the other was seeing but it certainly wasn't what he had been expecting. "Forget it. Seriously though, Seifer, you're kind of freaking me out here." Glancing back over his shoulder, the dirty blonde grabbed one of the drained bottles sitting on the coffee table and looked at it as if it had the word 'poison' written across it. "Did you drink all of this this afternoon?"

Seifer was getting seriously annoyed. Hayner was asking way too many questions, talking way too loudly, and sitting way too close. Now that he was crouching down right next to him, it only confirmed Seifer's fears. He had actually fallen for the twerp. Thoughts that he had only ever associated with Leon popped up unbidden in his mind. What would it feel like to hold him? What did his skin taste like? Damn, the alcohol was only making it harder to fight off. "What of it?"

A loud, mirthless laugh burst out from Hayner's chest. "What of it? Seifer, you idiot, this isn't good for you! How long have you been drinking like this?"

God, why wouldn't the kid just shut the hell up? "Long enough."

Seifer's ears stung as Hayner slammed the bottle he was holding back down onto the coffee table. "Okay, what's wrong with you?"

That did it. Frustration and anger fueling a sudden bout of energy, Seifer reached out, grabbed Hayner's wrist, and pulled him roughly down onto the couch. Hayner let out a shout of surprise, his eyes wide as he stared up at Seifer, the solider looming over him with a dark expression. What gave him the right to care? What gave him the right to ask what was wrong when Seifer didn't even know the answer? "Good question…"

Hayner's face twisted up into a nervous expression at Seifer's gravely response and began to twist around in the older blonde's grasp. "W-what the hell? Get off'a me, you—!"

Determined to shut him up and with his inhibitions already broken down by the alcohol, Seifer did the only thing that made sense in his mind. Without even waiting for Hayner to finish his sentence, Seifer leaned down and pressed their lips together in a bruising kiss.

At first, Hayner seemed too shocked to react but when he finally seemed to realize that he was being kissed his face flushed red and he tried to shove Seifer off. Seifer grunted as Hayner managed to pull away just enough to speak, the younger man's voice trembling. "Stop! Seifer, let go!"

"Why?" After months without any personal contact like this, Seifer's body was screaming for more. Whether or not Hayner wanted it didn't matter to his frazzled brain. He needed this. He almost half-hoped that the lamer would be able to fight him off, but right now there was nothing he could do anymore to hold himself back.

Seifer leaned down to reconnect their lips but Hayner just barely managed to hold him at bay. His cheeks were still bright red and he stared up at Seifer with a look mixed of fear, apprehension, and…something else? "You, you taste like beer and cheap vodka."

Out of the thousands of reasons Seifer had been expecting to hear about why he shouldn't continue, that wasn't one of them. Something like, 'I'll call the cops and have you arrested for sexual assault' or 'I'll kill you if you try that one more time'. A complaint about the way he tasted threw him for a loop. "That's it?"

As if noticing he had made a mistake, Hayner's flush deepened and he quickly tried to stammer out a better response. "A-and, I mean—you can't just—!"

Holy shit. Was Hayner was actually liking this? A quick shift in their stance told them that yes, Hayner definitely liked something that was going on. Did he actually—? The realization caused Seifer's mind to tumble back into sobriety, any alcohol left over seeming to burn away from the heat flaring up in his chest. Interrupting Hayner's rambling, Seifer tightened his grip on the skater's wrists. "Hey, do you like me?"

Hayner let out an embarrassed squawk. "_What?_"

"Do you like me?"

"I, I don't—just, shut up! Get off—!" Hayner tried to knee Seifer in the stomach, but the older blonde quickly had his leg pinned down. Seifer wasn't going to stand for it.

Sliding one hand down to grip Hayner's chin, he forced their eyes to meet. "Answer the damn question!"

As Seifer's fierce ice blue gaze met Hayner's flashing brown, Hayner finally seemed to snap. "Okay, I like you alright? Dammit!" His face flushed darker, if it was possible as his eyes clenched shut and he finally fell limp in Seifer's hold. "You're always, such an ass, but I, just, it's not my fault, okay?"

"Hayner."

"_What?_"

"Shut up."

About to blurt out another protest, Seifer finally managed to silence Hayner as he leaned down and kissed him again. This time it wasn't quite so demanding, a little more gentle, and Seifer let out a small grunt as Hayner finally began to reciprocate. The smaller blonde tilted his head and allowed the kiss to deepen, causing an embarrassing moan to ripple through Seifer's body. It had been way too long since he had been like this with someone.

Allowing himself to rest just a little more of his body weight on top of Hayner, Seifer released one of his wrists so that he could wrap an arm underneath Hayner's lithe body and pull him closer still. There was no way this was happening. He couldn't be making out with Hayner of all people on his couch like a horny teenager. But, if this was a dream Seifer hoped for once that it wouldn't stop.

Pulling away to breathe, Hayner gasped against Seifer's cheek, his breath hitching as Seifer took the chance to run his lips over his jaw line, his teeth lightly scraping across his pale skin. Squirming against him, Hayner's arched up against Seifer's chest before he managed to find his voice again, his low, breathy tone going straight to Seifer's groin. "H-hey. Don't, don't start anything, if you're not serious."

Seifer bit down lightly on Hayner's shoulder before answering, his own voice a husky rumble. "Relax. I'm not screwing around."

"G-good. Because," Hayner bit his lip as Seifer ran his tongue down to his collarbone, "because if you are, I'm going to kick your ass."

Seifer chuckled at the threat before leaning back over Hayner so that their eyes met. Hayner swallowed as Seifer's grip tightened around his body. "Let me show you just how serious I am about this."

OoOoOo

"_Seifer? Hey, are you in there?_"

Seriously? Again?

Seifer's eyes cracked open as he heard someone once again pounding on his front door. But this time, something was different. First off, the pounding on the door was also accompanied by a distinct pounding in his head as he was finally hit with the massive hangover he had been dreading. But, more importantly, this time he had woken up in his bed instead of on his couch, and this time there was a warm body pressed up against his under the this sheets. Hayner. So it hadn't been some messed-up hallucination…

"_Are you in? I tried phoning a while ago but no one answered!_"

If the lamer currently curled up in his arms wasn't the one at the door then that left only one option. Roxas Strife. That little bastard, what was he doing stopping by at people's houses so early in the morning? What time was it anyway? Seifer looked over his shoulder and winced at the digital clock on his side table. Ten o' clock in the morning. Whatever. It was still too early.

Seifer felt Hayner shift against him as Roxas knocked again. "_Are you ignoring me? This is important you know, official business! And I wanted to, thank you again but_…" Roxas's voice trailed off but Seifer only smirked despite the pain from his hangover. Hayner had already thanked Seifer enough for the both of them.

"_I'm coming in._" Well, shit. Apparently Hayner forgot to lock the door too.

As the front door opened and closed, Hayner finally begin to wake up, a sleep-slurred question slipping past his lips as he cracked an eye open. "What's all the noise 'bout?"

Seifer released a sigh and leaned back against the pillow. "Roxas is here. Something about business. I don't care."

"Oh…" Hayner looked like he was about to go to sleep when his brain finally processed what Seifer had said and his eyes snapped back open. "Wait, _what_?"

"Oh my god!"

Seifer and Hayner both looked up as they heard a sharp gasp come from the bedroom doorway. Roxas was standing there, frozen, his eyes wide and mouth agape and apparently having forgotten all about the folder of paperwork clutched in his hands.

Hayner immediately jerked up into a sitting position and tried to stand up. "Rox, wait—!" His voice caught in his throat and a curse was jerked from him as Hayner tumbled out of bed instead, his knees buckling as soon as he tried to put any weight on them.

Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Seifer ran his fingers through his cropped hair. None of this was making his hangover any easier to live with. "…Roxas…?"

Roxas tore his gaze from his best friend currently floundering on the floor. "Y-yeah?"

"Leave the paperwork and get the fuck out."

"R-right. I, I'll just, uh…" Leaning into the room, the detective set the folder onto of Seifer's dresser before scooting back out. "So, um…right. Bye, Hay!" Turning tail, Roxas scampered back out of the house, Seifer waiting until he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing before he bothered to move.

As soon as they were alone again, Seifer lazily rolled over onto the side of the bed Hayner had been sleeping on and leaned over the edge to find Hayner sprawled out on the floor. Luckily he had gotten tangled up in some blankets or else he would've given his friend quite the eyeful. "Doing okay down there?"

Hayner's cheeks were once again flushed red as he glared up at Seifer. "Shut up! My ass hurts, you jerk!"

"Huh. Imagine that."

"And now Roxas already know that we, we did stuff! What am I supposed to say to him next time I see him?"

"I have no clue." Reaching down, Seifer grabbed Hayner around the waist and with a small grunt hoisted the kid back up onto the bed.

Hayner flushed and struggled in his grip. "H-hey!"

"Relax." Seifer smirked again as he pulled Hayner back to his chest. Pressed against his own body, Hayner's felt slim, almost fragile, and Seifer pulled him closer. "There's still a few hours before we need to do anything…"

"What? You're going back to sleep?"

"Obviously." Seifer wanted to soak up as much rest as he could get. This had been the first night in months, _years_, that his mind had settled down enough to let him sleep for more than just three hours at a time. "Unless you'd rather pick up where we ended off last night."

"Are you kidding? I can barely move as is!"

"Then shut up and stop complaining." He would've been a little more compromising but he knew Hayner well enough by now to know that the kid really didn't mind this. He wasn't struggling nearly as hard as he usually did; right now his protests seemed more about keeping up appearances. Which amused Seifer to no end.

By now, most of Hayner's blush had receded and he let out a large huff. "Fine, but if you make me oversleep, I'm gonna kill you."

Seifer rested his chin on the top of Hayner's head, his hair almost soft without the ridiculous amount of gel the kid used to style it. "Fair enough."

A stretch of silence passed between them and Seifer could feel himself just about to drift back off when Hayner spoke again, his voice quieter this time. "You know, I came over in the first place to, to thank you I guess, for saving me."

Seifer rested his lips against the back of Hayner's neck. "Well, mission success."

Hayner wiggled around a bit at the feel of Seifer's breath on his neck. "_No, _what I meant was…" Heaving a sigh, Hayner relaxed in Seifer's arms. "I was scared, you know? I thought I was going to die in there. When that guy broke in, I sort of, volunteered to be the hostage, just so no one else would have to be but, I don't know…I thought I would handle it better."

Seifer closed his eyes. "Don't beat yourself up. Sounds like you were braver than most people would've been."

"Maybe…but, not you. You were, just…" Seifer let one eye open and saw that Hayner was blushing lightly. "You were, amazing."

"Amazing, huh?"

"Y-yeah. But, don't let it go to your head." Seifer chuckled as Hayner's tone went back to normal. "Your ego's plenty big without me adding to it."

"Right. Well, as amazing as I am, I need some more sleep, so how about you continue to sing my praises in a few hours?"

Hayner scoffed but didn't resist as Seifer wrapped his arms around his slim chest. "You're such a jerk."

"I can live with that."

* * *

After that, Friday arrived faster than Seifer had been expecting, the days having flown by. Once again though, he was the first to arrive at the bar he, Leon, and Zell were supposed to meet at. Stepping inside, Seifer headed straight over to their old seat but this time didn't bother flagging the waitress down. He wasn't in the mood for a drink just yet.

Today both Leon and Zell managed to arrive on time, although Dincht looked like he had tried a little too hard to do so. Bringing them over to the table with a quick nod, Seifer looked them over as they took their seats across from him. Leon was looking as good as always but for once Seifer didn't feel that usual burn that came along with being around him. And Zell, well, Zell just looked sunburned.

Smirking as his fellow ex-SeeDs sat down, Seifer motioned to Zell's face. "Spend a little too much time on the beach?"

Dincht glowered back at him. "I knew you were going to get on me about that. Okay, I may or may not have fallen asleep on the beach yesterday. But I needed to go there; you just don't get the same great ocean views in Balamb that you get here in Twilight Town!"

Seifer just shook his head as Zell's enthusiasm. "I can't go out there anymore. I hate the sand."

Leon tilted his head knowingly. "Well, we've certainly seen enough of it to last a lifetime." As his words soaked in, Seifer could feel Leon's eyes on him. Turning, Seifer met his searching gaze with an annoyed one of his own and Leon settled back into his seat. "You seem better today."

So they were back to that then. "I told you, I'm fine." And he was, now. Leon had been more perceptive than Seifer had anticipated last time, maybe even seeing something that Seifer didn't even recognize in himself. But he definitely didn't want to linger on that. Plus, if he didn't change the topic soon he knew Zell would get curious and start asking questions that Seifer didn't want to answer. "Anyway, Dincht, you're leaving town tomorrow?"

The blonde nodded, apparently sensing that whatever had just passed between Seifer and Leon was meant to stay between them. "Yeah. Unfortunately. Man, I wish I could stay here longer. None of the friends I have back in Balamb get me like you guys do."

Leon, his attention now back on Dincht, gave a small smile. "Obviously you just need to visit more often."

"Or you could come out and see me."

"Or you could come back here more often."

"See, Leon, the point of negotiations is that we each change our positions until we reach a compromise."

"Huh."

"You know, I think you've gotten even more stubborn."

Seifer was drawn from Leon and Zell's banter by a vibration in his pocket. Across the table, Leon and Dincht both paused as Seifer reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, his brow lifting as he realized that he had received a text message. Well, that was new.

Flipping his phone open, Seifer fiddled with the options until he got the message to pop up on the screen. As soon as it did, a smirk spread across his face.

_Hey asshole next time u leave, wake me up first! I was late on my first day back to work!_

Seifer laughed and shook his head. "Ha, what a dipshit…" Typing back a response, he sent it out and then looked up, only then noticing that Leon and Zell were staring at him. "What?"

Dincht just blinked. He looked almost as shocked as he did when he learned that Seifer and Leon were gay and Seifer mentally back-pedaled, trying to figure out what he had said wrong. "You just laughed. Like, full-on 'ha, ha, funny' laughed."

"So?"

Leon's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You never laugh."

Rolling his eyes, Seifer shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Oh come on. I laugh."

Zell shook his head. "Not like that."

They weren't letting up and even Leon seemed determined that something was going on. "Did, something happen?"

Seifer snorted but then, as he thought about it, his expression softened and he shrugged. "Nothing for you guys to worry about…I guess I'm just finally getting my life back."


	23. Bonus Chapter 3

Oh my goodness, final Bonus Chapter! *sigh* What am I going to do with myself after this? Oh, wait, it's November, which means it's NaNoWriMo time. Guess I'll still be busy for a while after all. ^^; This is however the last you'll probably hear of "The City is at War" Universe. Parting is such sweet sorrow *sniff*. Some of you have been asking if I plan to write another story and the answer is both yes and no. I have ideas but none of them are concrete enough to promote here. I did however write a Halloween one-shot special for the "Haunted by an Angel" series called "Memories of the Forgotten" if you want to read that to help tide you over.

Huge, big thanks to all the awesome dudes who reviewed for the last chapter: shrouded-obsession, kingdomheartslover13, Composer Gizmo-chan, TruancyCity, Aindel S. Druida, Dee, RkM4U, LizzyAlmasy, Shinimegami7, Kitty Neko, Lady Chicobo, Stellar Eclipse, ramen-is-my-goddess, doomshuriken, PhotoKitty, Pyro. Ahlex, Becca86, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, ChaosGarden, Krad, xacilia, and Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel! You guys are awesome! This chapter is a little calmer than the others, but I thought it might be appropriate since it's more of a conclusion. I hope you enjoy it! ^_^

O

* * *

Bonus Chapter #3: Riku and Sora's chapter

* * *

Riku closed his eyes from behind his mirrored sunglasses, just taking a moment to enjoy the feel of the sun on his pale skin and the ocean breeze brushing against his face. From where he was sitting, on a wooden bench along one of the main roads that ran along the shoreline, he could easily hear the sound of the waves rolling up onto the sandy beach. It was so different from anything he was used to, the tranquil noise, the warm, humid air. For the first time since he had lost his sight he genuinely had no idea of what the landscape looked like. He was more out of his element than ever. But it was worth it.

A month ago, Sora had moved out to Destiny Islands for college and Riku, of course, had followed. He had told Sora about the plan a while ago so that he would have the time to look for an apartment, since he couldn't very well live in the dorms with Riku tagging along, but Leon had been kept in the dark about it until about three days before Sora got on the plane to leave. Riku would've almost felt bad about that except for the fact that Leon had flipped out and probably would've found a way to kill Riku if he had stayed in town one more night.

By the end of the week Leon had forgiven them—well, forgiven Sora—and was calling _every night_ to make sure that his baby brother was settling in without any problems. Meanwhile, Riku and Sora had moved into a small one-bedroom apartment a ten-minute's walk from Sora's new university. Sora assured Riku that it had an amazing view of the ocean, just like nearly every other apartment on the small island, and Riku took his word for it, able to smell the saltwater from the window.

Although they had only been here for a month, it hadn't taken either of them long to fall into a new routine. Sora adapted a little faster than Riku though, the brunette taking every change in life with a smile on his face. He had been kept busy now that school had started, the younger Leonhart already working hard to earn a degree in psychology. From what he had told Riku, Sora wanted to become a psychotherapist, specializing in child or family counseling to help them through traumatic situations. Riku thought the job would suit Sora well; he was always positive, could be patient when he wanted to be, and most of all already had had plenty of experience of his own in traumatic family experiences.

At first, Riku had stayed in their apartment, venturing out only when Sora wanted to explore the small city about a half-hour's walk in the opposite direction from campus. But then boredom had overridden any anxieties Riku had about stumbling around alone and he had gradually started to explore on his own during the hours Sora was in class. Walking down the sidewalks, depending solely on that damn cane to keep from wandering into the streets, Riku had slowly but surely been developing a mental map of their neighborhood.

Now he was proud to say that he was able to find his way not only to the college campus but also all the way down to the city on the days he felt particularly stir-crazy. And one of his first priorities had been to get a feel for the local criminal scene.

Old habits died hard and after his third trip into the beach-side city by himself, Riku had deliberately searched out the seedier parts of town. If there was anything he knew for sure it was that even in seemingly-perfect places like Destiny Islands there was always a darker underbelly. Whether it was selling drugs to college students or stealing tourists' backpacks, there was always an incentive for lowlifes to try and make some fast cash. And Riku was, at the moment, fighting hard to resist his own lowlife instincts.

His blindness had instantly taken away any chances Riku had at earning an income doing what he did best: sniping people. Ever since then, he had been struggling to find something he could be just as good at despite his lack of eyesight. It wasn't an easy task. Especially when he was also trying at the same time to avoid falling too far back into crime, for Sora's sake. The only things he knew, the only jobs he understood, were illegal. He wasn't like Zexion, he didn't know how to translate his skills in the "real world". Whatever the "real world" was supposed to mean…

So as of right now Riku considered himself to be "exploring his options". Although he would've preferred a straight-laced job he wasn't so optimistic about his chances to find one. If he managed to scrape up a less-than-legitimate way to earn a little bit of cash first he wasn't above looking into it. Which was why he had come back into town this afternoon.

Pushing himself off the bench he had been relaxing on, Riku used his cane to feel his way back to the sidewalk. He cautiously navigated his way back to the other side of the street, double-checking his mental map with every step and trying to avoid bumping into every single pedestrian he passed by. The last time he had come to town he had successfully found the city's slums, but this time he was determined to make contact with some of the locals. Luckily, he had a plan. He had put his wallet in the back pocket of his pants, very obviously full of cash, to chum the waters. Even the most pathetic of criminals should spot it and most of them would probably take the bait, especially considering they would probably think Riku was a blind, lost tourist.

It didn't take long for Riku to be proven right. As soon as he made his way off of the main commercial streets and further back into the poorer, sketchier parts of town he immediately felt the presence of someone fall in step behind him. At first they, it was a small group by the sound of it, kept their distance but as Riku wandered further and further into what they must've considered their territory they became braver and began to close the gap between them and Riku.

Far from being nervous, Riku was fighting off the urge to tell them to hurry the hell up. Good god, were all Destiny Island street thugs this lame? At the sound of their footsteps finally drawing nearer, Riku stopped walking and, after feeling it out first, leaned up against the wall of the building he was moving along. "It's about time you guys caught up."

Riku heard their footsteps pause, shocked into silence, before a voice answered back. It was low and masculine, belonging to a kid in his late teens attempting to be suave as if Riku didn't know he had totally thrown them off guard. "Seems like you're lost. Need a hand finding your way back to the main strip?"

"Nah, I'm good." Riku smirked as he rested his cane over his shoulders. "I actually just found what I was looking for."

"And what would that be?"

"You, dumbass."

Riku heard one of the of the other punks let out a small growl. Now that they had drawn closer he guessed that there were probably only three of them all together. If that little snarl was supposed to intimidate him, it wasn't working very well.

"You better watch your mouth. Anyway, why would some blind loser be looking for _me_? Do you even know who I am?"

"Nope, and I can't really say I care who you are. All I want to know is if there are any jobs on the market in these parts of town." Cocking his head to the side, Riku's smirk widened. "See I just got here and I'm looking for a little bit of income. Even you lowlifes must have some news about people looking for someone to do their dirty work for them."

His question brought a sharp scoff from the main thug. "Oh yeah? What can _you_ do?"

What _could_ Riku do? He could still kill up close, with either a gun or a knife, or anything else he could make into a weapon. He could probably plan robberies, but that sounded as boring as hell. That's why he always left it to Zexion. What else? He could crack safes, probably better than ever now. Without his sight, his other senses were beginning to compensate for the loss, so his hearing was sharper than ever. Hm…safe cracking might actually work out. Didn't the police even hire safe-crackers? He might even find some legal work down that road.

"Hey, I'm talking to you! What, are you blind _and_ deaf? Are you stupid too?"

Interrupted from his thoughts, Riku rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses as he grudgingly returned his attention back to the street punks standing in front of him. These brats had way too much ego. However tough they thought they were they would've all been eaten alive if they had talked like that in the alleys of Dark City. And Riku would've said so if he had thought that it would've been worth the oxygen it would've taken to explain.

"I can do a hell of a lot more than you'll ever be able to. Now just answer the question: do you or do you not know about any open jobs? If you losers can't help me, I'll just ask someone else about it."

"I don't think I like your attitude." Riku didn't so much as blink when the leader of their pack of miscreants leaned in closer, the man's hand landing heavily on Riku's arm.

Batting it away, Riku turned his head so that, had he not been blind, he would've been staring the other straight in the eyes. "Well I don't like the way you smell, but you don't hear me complaining. Now that's it's out there though, you should seriously think about showering more frequently."

"Why you—you've got some kind of nerve coming into our turf and talkin' like this!"

"Hey," one of the other two kids finally spoke up, "you talk big, but let's see you back it up."

"That's right." And the loser in charge was speaking again. By the way his tone had shifted, Riku figured that he must've just thought of an idea, a small miracle in itself. "Coming in like this, you're either suicidal, stupid, or actually as good at what you do, so why don't you prove it? Me and my boys are going to be hitting up a shop on main street next week. Since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you tag along and show us what you got."

"And what would my cut of the take be?"

His question ripped a round of sharp laughs from the thugs. "Your cut? Your cut will be me not beating the shit out of you for your attitude. I would've knocked you out already except I don't want to be called a coward for going after a cripple."

Okay, whoa. Riku's eyes narrowed. This kid was seconds away of getting a beat down of his own. "First of all, I'm blind, not a cripple smart-ass. And second, if I'm not getting anything out of this, talking to you is definitely not worth my time."

Idiot number two spoke up again. "Shit, where'd this guy come from?"

Riku snorted. "A real city. I may have just moved here, but I've got more experience than you morons combined."

There was a short, tense silence before Riku heard a small growl. "Ya know, I remember you now." Their fearless leader had stepped into Riku's personal space again, his palm pressing up against the wall Riku was leaning on only about a foot from Riku's head. "You were walking around town with some brown-haired kid. I haven't seen him before; you moved here with him, right? What is he, your friend? Brother?" Riku didn't answer. It was obvious that the punk was talking about Sora, but he couldn't figure out why he had brought the brunette up. The thug didn't actually seem bothered this time by the lack of a response. "Doesn't matter. If you're really such a hot shot, how about you come and prove it or we'll pay your little friend a visit."

The young man had emphasized the end of his last sentence by pulling something from his pocket: a gun. Riku recognized it easily as the punk cocked the firearm. It was a small caliber handgun, non-automatic, one round had just been loaded into the chamber. He knew the sounds individual types of guns made better than he knew the sound of his own voice. But right now, it wasn't the pistol that had sent his blood rushing to his head. This thug had just crossed a line.

Having zeroed in with his hearing on where the punk was holding his gun, Riku's hand shot out and grabbed his opponent's wrist. The young street leader let out a short gasp of surprise, not having expected a blind man to move so fast, but before he could even shout back to his cronies Riku gave his wrist a sharp twist, forcing him to drop the handgun. Pushing off the wall, Riku used his second hand to grab the firearm before it could fall to the ground and, with one hand still keeping its tight grip on the punk's wrist, surged forward and slammed him up against the wall.

Pressing the gun up against the thug's head, Riku leaned his weight onto the man to keep him pinned and snarled down at him, Riku's voice a low, dangerous growl. "You don't know who you're messing with. If you so much as _look _at my lover, I will skin you alive. Literally. Got it?"

The punk choked on his own fear and surprise but gasped out a reply as Riku pressed the muzzle of the gun harder against the side of his skull. "G-got it! I got it, just, just let me go!"

It took everything Riku had not to pull the trigger and splatter the man's brains across the plastered wall. Sora was the important thing in his life, his most important person. Just hearing someone make any sort of threat against him drove Riku crazy. Every instinct Riku had was screaming at him to kill him but he resisted, if for nothing else than because he knew it was what Sora would've wanted.

Realizing that his hands were shaking, Riku grit his teeth then with a sudden jerk pushed himself away. The thug's two lackeys, who until that point had apparently been cowering as their boss got thrashed, finally hurried over to help him get back on his feet. Listening to their clumsy footsteps, Riku sent them an invisible glare as he emptied the pistol of its ammunition with a few quick flicks of his wrist.

As he slipped the unused rounds into his pocket he threw the pistol back down to the ground, having no use for such a low-end piece of equipment. By now, Riku had started to get his rage back under control and schooled his expression into a cold stare. "You losers aren't anywhere near my level. If you hear about any jobs that are actually worth my while, let me know. Otherwise, stay out of my way and we won't have any problems."

He didn't get an answer but he hadn't been expecting one. He didn't need to see to know that he had scared the crap out of them. Good. Maybe they would show him a little respect the next time he ran into them.

Turning on his heels, Riku began to head back to the main road sensing that this trip to the slums was going to be a bust. He tried not to trip, having too much pride to use his cane as he felt the street punks' eyes following him out.

But what a let down. He had been expecting that the local miscreants weren't going to be up to the caliber of criminals that Riku normally associated with but those three had just been pathetic. If that was a good example of what the rest of the criminals on Destiny Islands were like Riku was going to _have _to search out some legal employment for sure. There was no way he was ever going to degrade himself to the point where he would work with any of those idiots. Hopefully a little more searching on his part would reveal some classier criminal groups but for now Riku was ready to head back to the apartment. By now Sora was probably almost done with school for the day.

OoOoOo

When Riku finally made it back to the apartment, Sora was not only home but, by the smell of it as Riku walked through the front door, was already starting to make dinner. The sound of the door opening and closing must've caught his attention though because Sora's voice echoed back at him from their small kitchen. "Riku, is that you?"

"Expecting someone else?"

A small, involuntary smile spread across Riku's face as he heard Sora let out a short laugh. "Nope! Can't be too careful though."

Wasn't that the truth…Hearing footsteps come out from the kitchen Riku stretched his hand out. Sora's palm was pressed up against his a moment later, their fingers intertwining as he drew even closer. "Where'd you go today?"

Riku's smile grew a little drier. "Just for a walk. I hate feeling cooped up." It was mostly the truth, and that was the best he could do right now. Riku knew Sora deserved better, but he had felt that way from the very start of their relationship so that was nothing new. "Were you worried?"

He could almost sense the small grin that he knew had just lit Sora's face. "Nope. Well, maybe a little, but I know you're still strong enough to watch out for yourself. And I trust you, so I knew you wouldn't get into trouble."

Good god, Sora _trusted him_. This wasn't the first time Riku had heard it but it never stopped amazing him. Sora definitely deserved better than him but there was no way that Riku could let the younger man go now, even if Sora wanted to escape.

Before Riku had even realized it, the little brunette had broken something down inside him and had quickly become the most important person in Riku's life. He didn't have a single other person like him; no one else had ever loved him before. Hell, the closest thing he had ever come to it was Zexion, which was absolutely pathetic.

Before he had met Sora, Zexion had been the closest thing that Riku had to a friend or family. He had met Zexion…how many years had it been? Nine years ago? Shit, nine years ago, when he had been sixteen.

It felt like yesterday, the memory scarred into Riku's mind like so many others. It had been in Dark City, in the winter. Riku remembered the season clearly because there had been pounding rain, each droplet freezing cold. Riku…he had been in a bad place then. When Zexion had found him, he had barely been alive, slouched down in a alleyway amongst the skyscrapers of the City, having forgone any attempt at finding shelter and had just been letting the raindrops stab into him and freeze him to the bone. He had just been at a job and had just sat there, covered in congealing blood splattered across his clothing and skin wherever the rain hadn't washed it off, his gun hugged to his chest.

He must've looked downright nightmarish, just sitting against the wall with dead teal eyes, smelling of gunpowder and death, but Zexion had just walked up to him. Riku still didn't know how the other had even found him, but either way Zexion had just walked right up to him. The schemer had been wearing black dress shoes, slim-fitting black slacks, and a dark-colored button-up top and tie, holding black umbrella over his head to stay dry. Looking back on it, Zexion had probably just come from either a graduate school class or from working with Vexen in the lab. He must've only been about twenty-one at the time himself, though his face had been nearly exactly the same.

When Zexion drew close enough, he had crouched down so that his eyes were nearly level with Riku's, who had been watching him all the while like a wild animal, and had locked their gazes. When he spoke, Zexion's voice was crisp and clear without any trace of fear or disgust or anything else Riku had become so accustomed to. "_Are you Riku?_"

Riku had barely nodded, torn between the urge to kill the stranger and his curiosity to find out who the other was.

"_I have heard rumor that despite your age you are a decently proficient hitman._" Riku had just nodded again but Zexion had continued on, almost as if he had expected such a reaction. "_I have need of your services. I do not yet have a good deal of funds but I can offer you a small payment along with a temporary place to stay and some food. By your present state, I would assume that such things could prove to be a welcome proposition._"

Normally Riku would have laughed off such an offer but he had just hit rock bottom. With nothing left, even his muddled brain had realized that if he didn't take Zexion up on it, he probably wouldn't last the week on the streets alone. So he had agreed and ever since then he and Zexion had been working together on and off. When Zexion had moved out to Traverse Town Riku had followed him there and since then they had been partners in crime.

At the time, Riku had thought Zexion was the closest thing he was ever going to get to anything like a "family". He at least knew he could go to the other if he was in trouble without worrying if Zexion was going to take the opportunity to kill him, which wasn't necessarily true for his other associates. But then…he had met Sora, and, it was so stupid, but the kid just gave off this warm feeling that Riku hadn't ever experienced before. He had been the first person Riku could ever remember wishing him "goodnight," that time when three years ago when they had all been trapped in the cabin when the police tried harboring them from the Organization. Things like that—those little things that no one else would even notice—Riku was starting to realize just how much he desperately wanted them. He had always thought Zexion had been made weaker thanks to his relationship with Demyx, but now…now he was pretty sure that the opposite was true. The feeling of being cared for, of being wanted, was more empowering—more addictive—than Riku could've ever imagined.

"Hey, Riku, are you even listening to me?"

Riku blinked as he felt a tug on his hand and realized that his thoughts had drifted off while Sora had apparently been talking to him. "What'd you say?"

He heard Sora pout. "I knew it. Here, take these off, that way I can make sure you're paying attention!" Riku blinked as Sora reached up with his free hand and deftly pulled his sunglasses off. "There!"

Riku winced as light suddenly assaulted his eyes. Though Riku was legally blind, he could still just barely manage to make out some changes in light and shadow and, if he put his mind to it, could make out images and letters if he held them up really close to his face. There was no chance in hell that he'd ever be a sniper again with his vision as it was and the shadow-play usually just confused him more than it helped him figure out what was happening around him. More than that though, he wore the sunglasses not only to make it more obvious to others that he was in fact blind, but also to hide his eyes which had developed a sort of hazy, milky film over them. They freaked people out sometimes; even Sora was occasionally still caught off guard when Riku removed his shades. But even so Sora often insisted that Riku take them off when it was just the two of them together. It was almost as if the brunette was trying to acclimatize himself to the way that Riku looked now.

"Much better."

A muffled chuckle escaped passed Riku's lips and he tugged Sora closer. "Don't lie. I know they're not exactly nice to look at."

And Sora was pouting again. If Riku pulled him closer still, maybe he'd be able to see the way Sora's full lips pinched together or the small crease in his brow. "I'm not lying. No matter what happens, I'll always like _you_, Riku, not what you try to hide behind."

Smirking, Riku reached around Sora and wrapped an arm tightly around the small of his back. "You've obviously been reading too many of your psychology books."

He was rewarded by a light laugh as Sora leaned into him. Riku could almost make out the spikes of Sora's hair and his wide blue eyes. God he wished he could still see color. "Nope. I've been procrastinating actually."

"Procrastinating? You? What have you been doing instead?"

"This…" Pushing himself up on his tiptoes, Sora closed the distance between their lips. Riku blinked in surprised then let his damaged eyes close. Separating their hands, Riku threaded his newly freed fingers through Sora's hair as he tilted head to deepen their kiss. He felt his chest tighten as the action pulled an absolutely amazing moan from Sora's throat and his grip tightened on Sora's body. No matter what he did, he could never get close enough to the lithe little brunette.

Finally Sora pulled away after the need to breathe became too great. Riku wasn't ready to relax his hold though so Sora settled on resting his cheek against Riku's shoulder. "You distract me from my homework…"

"Can't say I'm sorry for it."

Riku felt Sora smile into his shoulder, all pretenses at being upset dissolving. "I didn't say you should be. Anyway," Sora paused as he tentatively tried to shift back. Riku only let go after a minute's hesitation. "I should probably get back to dinner before I forget to finish that too."

Hands already feeling cold without Sora to hold onto, Riku crossed his arms over his chest. "Need help?"

"Ah, you can go ahead and watch some TV or something while I finish."

"I _can_ help, you know."

"I know." Sora answered back so matter-of-factly that Riku almost felt bad for assuming Sora had been making a hidden remark about his blindness. He even heard a smile in Sora's voice as his footsteps disappeared back into the kitchen. "But you've probably had a longer day, what with going out and all, so I wanna do it. I think you deserve a little time to relax!"

"Oh….Okay." Relax? What was he supposed to do to relax? He could watch TV but nothing good was on right now. TV shows and movies had become to him what radio programs had been to earlier generations but this time of the day there would probably only be crappy network dramas on. The programs he liked didn't come on until later.

Nevertheless, Riku walked around to the other side of their small family room and sat down on the sofa. With no TV to watch and nothing to do but just stare at shifting, blurred patterns of light that were probably from a beautiful ocean sunset, Riku quickly got bored. He lasted a whole three minutes before he bounced up onto his feet. "This is stupid. Sora, I'm helping with dinner."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Now, what do you need help with?"

Once Sora finally let Riku into the kitchen to help, they were able to prepare and eat dinner in almost record breaking time. It was always an interesting experiment since neither of them really knew the intricacies of cooking. Riku had never really had a reason to learn how to prepare an actual meal and Sora had only ever helped Leon prepare meals, if that, back at home. They were each getting better at it though and were slowly becoming able to not only produce food that was edible but that was actually somewhat appetizing.

After the meal was done and the dishes had been cleared away they somehow migrated over to the couch. Sora was attempting to do some homework while Riku channel-surfed, the brunette's back resting up against Riku's shoulder while tried to focus on the book he held in his lap. Once the sun had fully set, Sora had opened up some of the windows so a cool, salty breeze was blowing through the apartment, a welcome break after the warm afternoon.

The whole thing was almost a little too domesticated for Riku's taste. It wasn't that he didn't like it—he just hardly knew what to do with himself anymore. And it wasn't just that he didn't know what he was supposed to do on a day-to-day basis, he actually didn't know what he was supposed to do anymore, with anything. Everything was new to him these days and the fact that he had lost one of his senses was not making things any easier. The one thing he did know though was that being here, with Sora, was okay. It wasn't perfect—or how he imagined "perfect" to be—but it was okay, much more okay than the rest of his life had been. And it had it's moments that were particularly better than that. And Riku had a pretty good feeling that one of those moments was about to come up.

He had been watching, or listening, to TV for about two hours when he heard Sora stifle a small yawn. "Tired?"

Sora shifted against Riku's shoulder at the question. "I guess…" The eighteen-year-old yawned again and dropped his book back onto his lap so he could stretch his arms up over his head. "It's just this stupid textbook. It's putting me to sleep."

Riku chuckled and reached out, snagging Sora around the waist and pulling him onto his lap. Sora let out a small squeak of surprise but didn't protest, clearly ready to be distracted again. "What time is it? Is it too early to go to bed?"

There was a pause as Sora undoubtedly looked over at the clock on the wall. "It's a little early, but if you're tired too we could probably call it a day and get some sleep."

A sly smile stretched across Riku's lips and he nuzzled his face up against the crook of Sora's neck. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

"What?" Riku tightened his grip around Sora's waist, his fingertips slipping under the hem of Sora's shirt and he could practically feel the younger flush. "Oh. Ah-I, should probably…"

Sora's voice trailed off as Riku pressed his lips against the tanned skin of Sora's throat. "Should probably what?"

"Ah!" Sora let out a small gasp as Riku's fingers crept further up his chest. "Ah, noth-, nevermind. Um, no, wai-wait!" Riku grunted as Sora sat up, separating his skin from Riku's lips. "I should shower first. I had my soccer class this morning, I probably smell gross."

Frowning, Riku reluctantly let Sora pull away. "You smell good enough to me. Taste fine too."

He knew Sora's face must have been bright red at this point but Sora just laughed his own embarrassment off. "No way, you're just saying that. I won't take long, I promise."

"Fine. But make it fast, otherwise I'll come in after you."

"I know you would!" Detaching himself completely from Riku's grasp, Riku heard Sora pad across the carpeted floor towards their bathroom. "I'll be done before you can even change into your pajamas!"

Riku doubted it. Especially since he wasn't planning on putting any pajamas on. But he let Sora sneak off to the bathroom and didn't get up from the couch until he heard the door to the bathroom close and the shower turn on. Then he stood up, turned the TV off, and slowly strolled back into the bedroom, having no need to hurry.

When he got into the room, he carelessly stripped off his tank-top and jeans, tossing them in some random direction before making his way over to the bed. They had the room arranged so that Riku had ready and easy access to everything even without his sight. The bed itself had its headboard pushed up against the far wall, right underneath the window. That way Riku was able to tell roughly what time of day it was when he woke up just by looking at the amount of light trickling in through the blinds instead of having to wake Sora up so that he could check a clock.

Flopping down on the bed, Riku rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. When he had them closed, some times he could almost pretend when he opened them again he would be able to see again. Shaking the thought away, Riku ran his fingers through his shoulder-length silver hair and focused instead on the sound of the water running in the shower.

As promised, Sora didn't linger in the bathroom. Riku didn't know how much time had passed, five minutes, maybe ten, but he soon heard the shower shut off. A few seconds later he heard the bathroom door open down the hall and footsteps hurrying towards the bedroom.

"See, I told you I'd be fas—"

Smirking as Sora's voice caught just as his footsteps signaled that he had come into the bedroom, Riku let his eyes flicker open and glanced over to where he knew the doorway was. "About time. Are you just going to stand there or are you coming to bed?"

Riku got his response a second later as the mattress gave a sudden lurch as Sora all but launched himself onto the bed. A choked curse flew from Riku's lips as he was caught off guard by the jolt from the impact, his surprise instantly soothed away as Sora laughed. The brunette was crouched over Riku, his hands pressed into the bedding on either side of Riku's head, probably with a cheeky grin on his face if his tone was anything to go by. "Bed sounds nice."

The urge to take control surged through Riku's body and in a heartbeat he had grabbed Sora's shoulders and flipped the younger around so that he was the one being pressed to the mattress. The things he wanted to do to Sora frightened him some times. With all of his past lovers, well, to say that hadn't ended well for them would've been an understatement. But the sound of Sora's voice, the feel of his skin, the way he smiled, kept Riku's darker instincts safely at bay. And so Sora's punishment for running away was going to be light.

"_Riku!_"

Riku smirked as Sora burst into a fit of some very unmanly giggles as Riku's fingers slipped down his ticklish sides. Sora tried to squirm to the other side of the bed but since it was only a double-sized mattress he didn't get too far. Squealing as Riku slipped his fingers under the towel he had wrapped around his waist, Sora tried to gasp out words in between bouts of laughter. "Ri-riku! Stop! Stop!"

Riku's smirk softened into a smaller smile as he caved to Sora's pleas and he finally stopped tickling and rolled onto his side, figuring that Sora had learned his lesson. Palms still against pressed against Sora's sides, Riku slid them around Sora's waist until they rested, one on top of the other, on Sora's flat stomach and pulled Sora back until he was resting against Riku's chest. Riku could feel just a hint of the sinewy muscle beneath his smooth skin, and once again was amazed at how different Sora's body was from his own. And he could barely wrap his mind around the fact that Sora was related to Leon. The two Leonhart brothers couldn't have been more unalike, except for a shared stubbornness, inquisitiveness, and the undying need to do what they thought was right.

As Sora's breathing calmed down, Riku pressed a kiss to the back of Sora's head, his damp hair tickling Riku's nose. "You're still wet."

"I, I toweled off." After a bit of wiggling, Sora managed to turn around in his arms. His towel had nearly fallen off in the process but Sora didn't seem to mind either way as he wrapped his arms around Riku's neck. "I was in a rush after all."

"Hn…Good." Leaning in, Riku closed the gap between their lips as his eyes fell shut. Sora melted into the embrace, his body perfectly compliant as he released a long moan. Riku quickly swallowed the sound as he pressed closer still, his heart constricting as Sora's fingers slid up to clutch at his hair.

Riku didn't know what he had done in his miserable life to deserve having something as pure as Sora. But, now that he had him, he was never going to give him up.

* * *

"_Oh my god!_"

Riku shot out of his seat like it had been electrified. It was the day after he had gone into town and he and Sora had been enjoying a relatively lazy morning since the brunette didn't have class until that afternoon. They had just been settling in to watch a movie when Sora had gotten a phone call. He had wandered into the kitchen to talk but the sound of Sora's shout had Riku sprinting over to him, the former assassin's heart pounding in his chest.

Racing into the other room, Riku fumbled around for Sora, clutching tightly onto his arm as he found him. "What? What is it?" Riku couldn't sense anything dangerous, but his body was tensed and ready for anything.

Sora gripped him right back, his tone still panicked as he instantly responded. "Squall's coming to visit!"

It took a second for Sora's reply to sink in but when it did, Riku had to reach out his spare hand to steady himself as all of the tension flooded from his limbs. "For shit's sake…" Sucking in a breath, Riku let it out slowly, willing his heart-rate to return to normal. "Sora, we really need to work on your reactions to different levels of emergencies—"

Riku felt Sora shake his head as he interrupted. "What are you talking about, this is an emergency!"

"I'm not following. I thought you _liked_ your brother?"

"Of course I do, but you know how he is! He and Cloud are coming in two days and this place needs to be _perfect_ by then!"

Riku released his grip on Sora and slowly leaned back against the counter. He could feel one of those rare arguments coming up. "Why? It's just Leon and Cloud."

"No, it needs to be perfect!" Sora's tone was as determined and focused as a young soldier going to battle. "I need to show him that I'm a responsible adult, that _we're_ responsible adults! I need to vacuum, mop, throw out all the junk food—"

Leon wasn't even here yet and he was already giving Riku headaches. "Now wait a minute—"

"No, he'll look into everything!" There was a soft rustle as Sora probably slid his cell phone back into his pocket before the brunette reached out and grabbed Riku's shoulders. "He'll have every inch of this place inspected the first fifteen minutes he gets here! Wait, are my meds restocked? He'll flip if I'm running low!"

Riku snorted. "If he pokes his nose into our bedside table, he'll find more than just a low stash of drugs to flip over…"

"What are you talking abo—oh my god! You need to hide all that stuff! He'll kill you if he finds it!"

If what Sora was saying had actually been an exaggeration, his overreaction would've been pretty amusing. "Sora, we only have one bed. I think he'll be after me either way."

As he finally fell silent Riku heard Sora swallow and nod. "You're right."

It was like someone had just dumped a big bucket of water over the brunette's head and Riku almost felt sorry for bringing up the obvious. "Maybe I'll just happen to be on a walk when he gets here so you can break the ice."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

OoOoOo

That was how Riku found himself once again roaming the streets of Destiny Island, only this time partly against his will. Since Sora had gotten his phone call the days had passed by in a flurry of nervous activity on Sora's part and with a dull sense of trepidation on Riku's. It wasn't like Riku was afraid of Leon but he would just rather not be there when the ex-SeeD came face-to-face with the fact that Riku was having sex with his baby brother. Leon had a crazy protective streak, not that Riku really had any right to talk…

Anyway, as soon as he and Sora learned that Leon and Cloud's plane had landed on the island Riku had made himself scarce. It was annoying but he was pretty sure that he could manage to find some way to spend his time. He hadn't been back since he had had that run-in with those two-bit street thugs. Maybe this time around he could actually find some legitimate criminals to talk to. Or, you know, something legal could capture his attention. Stranger things had happened.

But as expected his feet led him not to the pleasantly sun-drenched streets of the commercial sector of the small sea-side city but back into its darker neighborhoods. It was as if his body instinctively searched out the shadows and just let himself wander. There wasn't a single thing that he was afraid of here, as far as criminals went, his confidence peaking with the realization that he was probably one of the most dangerous people on the island even in his present state.

It was a welcomed feeling, but Riku definitely should've known better than to let himself get lulled too far into a sense of security. He had been so comfortable even walking down the narrow, darkened streets that he forgot to pay attention to his surrounding and didn't hear the footsteps approaching until it was too late.

The only warning Riku got was an enraged growl and a burst of air before a metal pipe slammed against the wall he had been walking along, having missed his head by mere inches. Riku jumped back so fast he almost tripped on his own feet his eyes wide behind his sunglasses as he pressed himself back against the wall.

"Damn, you sure are fast for a blind guy."

Riku recognized that voice. It belonged to that street thug who he had challenged the other day. Apparently he had forgone his gun in favor of a more brute-force weapon. A low snarl escaped Riku as he quickly assessed the situation. By the sound of it, the punk had also come alone this time. He had probably spotted Riku on the street and decided to jump him, the pipe he was wielding proof enough that it was more a crime of convenience than anything else. "And you sure are persistent for a moron."

Hearing his opponent's feet shift on the pavement, Riku barely had time to dodge before the pipe was again swung at his head. It came even closer to him this time and Riku felt a whiff of air hit his cheek, probably only a few centimeters away. Riku stumbled back and his grip tightened on his cane, the only thing he had that was close to a weapon.

The thug must've noticed his fingers wrapping around the long metal pole because he let out a loud, dry laugh. "What, you really think you can take me? I'm going to teach you a lesson for making me look like a fool."

Riku's jaw tightened as he heard footsteps charge towards him and tucked himself into a somersault to try and avoid whatever oncoming blow was coming. Once again he managed to dodge the hit but this time his somersault rolled him right into what felt like a large wooden crate. Swearing as he slammed into it, Riku scrambled to get back up onto his feet. Unfortunately as stupid as he was, even the street thug wasn't dumb enough to let the opportunity go by.

Unable to get back up fast enough, all Riku could do was throw his hands up to block his face as his opponent swung his metal pipe down again. A dull pain erupted on Riku's side, the pipe hitting him hard right along the side of his rib-cage. A nearly instantaneous check told him that nothing had been broken, though it was certain to leave a nasty-looking bruise.

Hearing the thug pull away for another go, Riku forced himself into action. A blow like that might have knocked most into whimpering and calling for mercy, but Riku was not one of those people. He had certainly felt worse pains in his life and was not going to be put down so easily.

Swinging his own cane out, Riku smirked as he heard the punk shout as the cane swept up from behind him and knocked his legs out from underneath him. Having finally untangled himself, Riku jumped up as the thug crashed to the ground. He ignored the small twinge of pain in his ribs and went on the attack, whipping his cane down onto the form sprawled across the ground. He heard the sound of a metal pipe clattering to the ground and a very satisfying smack as the metal rod landed a blow on the thug's chest.

Riku had been hoping that he'd hit his face instead but no matter; it had winded his opponent enough so that he couldn't immediately get up. And, like his opponent, Riku knew better than to let such an opportunity go to waste. Standing over him, Riku used his cane to map his form out. Hmm. He was bigger than Riku would've guessed. Maybe five foot ten, six foot two, muscled build. No wonder he had such a hard swing. Which reminded him…

Riku smirked as he put his boot on the man's throat. "I thought I taught you a lesson the last time but apparently it wasn't enough to get through your thick skull."

The only response he got was an airy cough. The thug obviously hadn't gotten his breath back and the foot pressed up against his windpipe probably wasn't helping.

Riku's smirk grew darker. It had been a long time since he had had someone at his mercy like this. "I could kill you, you know. I could kill you so fast you wouldn't even have time to realize it, or I could kill you so slowly that you'd be aware of every single excruciating second as I peeled you apart, piece by piece."

That brought the street punk back to life and Riku could practically smell his fear as he wrestled Riku's foot off and shakily pushed himself back up. "Y-you…" The thug's breath left him and he growled and tried again. "Who, who the hell are you?"

"The name's Riku, and if you're smart you'll stay out of my way from now on. Think of this as a warning."

"You think you can just come in here and—!"

Whatever the punk was about to say next was cut off by a voice from the end of the street. "Riku!"

Immediately identifying the owner of the voice, Riku cursed under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest. Great. Of course _he_ had to come and see Riku like this, facing off with some common wanna-be. And although Riku was winning, he had still gotten way too ruffled for his pride to be happy with.

Said wanna-be of course had no idea what sort of trouble he had just gotten into and growled over to the newcomer. "And who are you? You know this guy?"

"Unfortunately."

Riku rolled his eyes behind his darkened glasses as he heard footsteps coming over to them. "Look, Leon, I got this handled, alright?"

"I'm sure you do." Riku sneered up at his former accomplice as Leon, having apparently come out of the woodwork, moved himself between the thug and Riku. As if he needed protection. Damn, Leon was an asshole.

But he must've looked intimidating, probably giving the thug one of his best glares, as he spoke because the punk didn't utter a single word. "Sorry. Is my brother causing you problems?"

Really? Leon just had to take away everything fun in his life and—wait, did he say "brother"? Riku blinked, momentarily stunned as the conversation continued on without him.

"N-No. No, sir."

"Then get out of here."

Riku heard the street thug suck in a breath, as if wanting to respond. But Leon must've been giving him some sort of look because whatever he wanted to say died on his lips and instead he turned around and ran, apparently deciding to cut his loses while he still could.

Riku knew he had left when Leon finally turned around to face him. He was expecting a number of words to come from the ex-solider but what came from Leon next was not one of them.

"You've changed."

Tilting his head, Riku frowned up at where he knew Leon's face was. "Well, _yeah_. I've gone blind."

"No…" Leon shook his head as if confused himself. "No, it's more than that."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Even as Riku asked though, he thought he knew what Leon was talking about. Before, back in Traverse Town or Dark City, Riku wouldn't have hesitated a second and would have killed anyone who dared to jump him like that. Now it wasn't that he couldn't but he just didn't. He just didn't feel like it anymore, or at least it took more to get him riled up these days.

"It was a compliment. Accept it and shut up. What just happened anyway?"

"I was just taking a walk and that loser tried to jump me."

"You should be thankful I'm not beating you down myself."

"What? Oh." Right. Leon had probably just come from the apartment. Which meant that he had seen their living arrangement. Now that he mentioned it, Riku was surprised that Leon hadn't just sat back and watch him fight it out with that thug. "Which reminds me, how did you find me?"

Leon snorted. "It's not like I was out looking for you." Yeah right. "I decided to hit the streets to gather up some information. This isn't just a pleasure trip for me and Cloud, we're here on business."

Riku's brow rose. What in the hell was Leon doing here on business? Considering his business these days was hunting down criminals. "Are you kidding? They've got nothing here. Absolutely nothing. It's actually driving me crazy."

He heard Leon frown. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty damn sure. So far all I've found is punks like the ones who just tried to jump me. Why are you asking?"

"Cloud and I got a lead to one of our cases. Supposedly one of the minor crime bosses in Traverse Town said something about having a connection here on the Islands. They would be involved in smuggling contraband items into the country."

From Leon's tone, it was clear that the older man was hoping that Riku would know something about it but Riku could only shake his head. "If something's going on they're keeping it quiet enough to keep the street thugs in the dark about it. Do you have a name or are you just chasing a ghost?"

"Yeah. Tyler Allen."

Riku's brows rose again. "Well, what do you know?" He actually did recognize the name, but not in a way that he had been expecting.

"What?"

"That's the local ferry captain. If your source was telling the truth it looks like he was taking more than tourists for a ride."

"Do you know where this guy is?"

Riku's smile spread. It was a rare thing for Leon to ask for help and you could bet he was going to milk it for all it was worth. "Maybe."

Leon's voice lowered to a warning rumble. "_Riku_."

Riku wasn't intimidated. "I want a cut of your payment."

"What? For what?"

Slowly walking over to the wall, Riku leaned against it, his smile never leaving his face. "For my consultant services. Do you want my help or not?"

"…If we weren't on a tight schedule I'd seriously beat you down."

"Aw, I love you too. You know, it's bonding moments like this that are really going to bring us closer together as brothers-in-law."

"Don't push your luck."

Riku laughed at Leon's growl. "Hey, you're the one who called me your 'brother'."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. Just admit it."

"How about you just shut up, we go get Cloud, and then you tell us where we need to go to find this guy?"

Pushing himself off of the wall, Riku pretended to think on it for a moment. "Hm, nope, that doesn't sound like nearly as much fun."

Leon let out a long-suffering sigh as he turned to walk back down to the main road. "I've should've known better than to bring you into this."

"Yeah, you should've of." But Riku was happy that Leon had. He could've done without the other breaking up his fight, but helping Leon with a case had the chance of being pretty amusing, and maybe he'd even be able to weasel some money out of it. For the first time in a few months, Riku felt like he was actually being useful again. Apparently he could still join in even though he had lost his vision.

Riku's cheerful mood of course didn't stop him from arguing with Leon all the way back to his and Sora's apartment. In fact, it probably made it worse. Knowing that Leon needed his help, Riku made sure to press all his buttons, though he was careful not too abuse the other too much. He knew that Leon would only stand so much before he lashed out and Riku wasn't really keen on crossing that line. After all, they were sort of family now, a thought that was still so foreign to Riku that he barely knew how to deal with it.

Still, as they finally reached the apartment, Riku was pretty sure that Leon was one word away from killing him. Luckily Sora and Cloud were both there to distract the man from his rage. The two spiky-haired males had apparently been talking on the couch when he and Leon came in, their conversation falling away as the front door opened. Cloud was the first to speak, Sora probably shocked into silence at seeing Riku and Leon come in together.

"That was fast. I thought you went out to dig up some information on our perp."

Leon grunted as he closed the door behind them. "Well I ran into someone who might be able to help us."

Judging by the way he had said "someone," Leon had motioned towards him as they both made there way over to the couch.

Cloud let out a small noise of surprise. "Really? Riku, you know the guy?"

Nodding, Riku located Sora and sat down next to him. "Yeah. Tyler Allen, right? He's a local ferry captain. I can tell you all about him."

Leon growled. "Yeah, for a price."

"Hey, a man's gotta live."

It seemed that Cloud wasn't surprised by the demand. "Right. Well, if your help pans out we can talk about some compensation."

It wasn't exactly an agreement, but it sounded like Cloud was willing to consider paying him for his information. Riku figured it was the best he was going to get from the two private detectives. "Fine. Anyway, what is it exactly that you guys want to hear?"

Leon sat down next to Cloud. "Everything you have on him."

"Sure. You have a pen or paper or something, because you're going to want to take notes."

"Just talk, Riku."

Riku scoffed but settled back against the couch and for the next half hour or so told Leon and Cloud everything he knew about their possible smuggler. Every now and again Sora would even add a small little detail but for the most part it was just Riku speaking. Once again, he was glad that he paid such close attention to the goings-on of the town. Eavesdropping had gained him an advantage more than once in the crime-rings of Dark City and Traverse Town and so had developed into a habit that Riku had never been sorry for.

By the time he was done, Riku had given Leon and Cloud more than enough to go off of and it was clear that both investigators were now ready to proceed on with their case. He heard Cloud stand up, the former cop thrumming with energy. "Good, good, we can definitely use some of that. Leon, we'd better head out before Allen gets word that we're coming after him."

"Right."

Sora stood as Leon did, the younger Leonhart surprised and a little bit put out. "What? You guys are leaving already? You just got here!" He had been nervous about Leon coming to visit them for the first time, but Riku knew that Sora missed his brother, perhaps even more than he would've liked to admit, and probably wanted Leon to stay longer.

Leon seemed to sense this too and his voice softened as he turned to his brother. "Yeah. We're working a case right now. But…" Leon sighed. "You're doing better than I thought you would out here, Sor." It sounded like Leon was having to force every word from his throat. If Leon had his way, he'd probably have Sora flown back to Traverse Town the next day, but it seemed like he was trying to let his baby brother grow on his own. "I think, I think you'll do well here. Especially with Riku looking out for you." The 'now that he's not such a psycho' was implied but Riku was still shocked that Leon had said so. Was Leon actually approving of their relationship?

As if reading his mind, Leon's tone shifted again to a low rumble and Riku knew that the older brunette was looking at him. "Don't think you're off the hook though. I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Riku. And if I hear so much as a rumor that he's being mistreated—"

Riku didn't need to hear the rest of the threat to understand its general gist. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

Leon scowled. "You'd better. If you don't keep your hands clean, I'll be back to straighten you out. As it is, Sor," his tone lightened again as he turned his attention back to his brother, "you can probably expect another visit in the next few months. I still have to see your campus after all."

Sora must've had a blinding smile on his face. "Right! Is it alright if I come home for the holidays?"

"I expect you to."

"And if I bring Riku…?"

Sora's voice had trailed off hesitantly and Leon sighed. "I won't kick him out."

Releasing a small noise of excitement, Sora launched himself at his brother, wrapping his arms around Leon in a tight hug. "Thanks, Squall!"

Riku heard Leon shift, probably hugging Sora back. "Take care of yourself." Sora let out a small, affirmative noise and the brothers separated. After a moment's pause, Leon turned back to Riku, his voice grudgingly gentle. "Take care of him."

Blinking in surprise, it was all Riku could do to nod. It looked like maybe Leon was ready to let him in. A warm feeling flooded through Riku's chest and he nodded again. He would definitely take care of Sora. "I will." Always.


End file.
